Remembering mum who lost four sons in tragic conflict
IT’S one of the most famous war epics ever made but Ireland’s real-life Private Ryan never had a team to save him.
The iconic drama, starring Tom Hanks and Matt
Damon, tells the story of a team sent to bring home Private James Ryan, a US soldier whose three brothers have been killed in the Second World War.
The Oscar-winning tale, which was partially filmed in Co Wexford, bears striking similarities with that of the Shea family.
Michael, from Co Kilkenny, was the only one of five brothers who came home from WW1. Siblings John, Richard, Patrick and Joseph were all killed in action.
Unlike in Saving Private Ryan, no squad was sent to prevent the obliteration of almost an entire family.
Margaret Shea, who died in 1924, never saw four of her sons again. Buried in graves across France, Belgium and Israel, there are no photographs of them, simply records – of service, medals and deaths.
Neither is there a record of the letter Margaret sent pleading for information about her children. But one reply has survived.
It was discovered by relative Jim O’keefe.
He told RTE’S Nationwide: “Nothing was documented, the fact she lost four sons wasn’t even in the local paper.
“At least now this unfortunate story – unusual not in the sense of families in Kilkenny but in the number of sons she lost – won’t be forgotten.”
Michael returned home to work on a small farm in Kilkenny.
He never married and the whereabouts of his grave is unknown. It was never marked.