Channel 4.History / lost Generation / Irish Shot at Dawn / Irish Virtual WW1 Memorial - Click Here
Irish Heroes Return 2005		Irish Heroes Return 2005

The publication of research initiated from 1986 into the loss of the Steam Trawler Leukos   SS Ardmore and the disclosure of the Irish Government's failure during the period 1939-46 to Register the Deaths of  Seamen lost on Irish vessels has generated many enquiries from families and survivors. Consequently, the Irish  Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46) was inaugurated to provide as much information as possible for the benefit of relatives of seafarers, who were killed as a direct result of belligerent action while serving on neutral Irish Registered Vessels during the second world war. Membership of our association is strictly limited to the next of kin of merchant seamen who were awarded posthumously the Irish Mercantile Marine (Valour) Medal 1939-46 ) with 3 bars attached. We will from time to time highlight issues relevant to families of Irish born service personnel irrespective of country. Lance Cpl Ian Malone Irish Guards - Piper Christopher Muzvuru Irish Guards killed in action, Basra, 6th of April 2003, and Marine Robert Joseph McKibben Royal Marines, killed in action Afghanistan on the 12th of November 2008 are also remembered.

Between the 3rd of September 1939 to the 31st of March 1946 approximately 4000 seafarers would have served on neutral Irish merchant ships and fishing trawlers. They came from the UK, USA, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Argentina, Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Russia. Of the 149 seamen who were lost on Irish vessels sunk as a result of belligerent action, 18 were British [Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales], 1 Norwegian, 1 Latvian and 1 Argentine, the rest were Irish Nationals. Many had also served during the first world war in the Royal Navy, Royal Flying Corps, Merchant Navy and in units of the British Army.  Organised by the Irish Government, the Annual National Day of Commemoration Ceremony in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, was initiated to honour Irishmen and Irishwomen who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations.  This exclusive and politically correct epitaph does not recognise the vital contribution made by foreign nationals to Ireland's survival during the emergency period 1939-46.  In consequence and inter alia,  we will also remember those seafarers who lost their lives on allied ships which had been contracted by the Irish Government to bring supplies to Ireland during that time; Lest we forget those of whom Irish history does not commemorate ?

Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl

Inaugurated on the 27th June 2002 The Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl co-ordinated by the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) sought to persuade the British Government to grant pardons to 26 Irish born British soldiers in particular and 275 other ranks in the British Army who were executed (to encourage others; pour encourager les autres) during world war one for various alleged military offences which ceased in 1929 to be punishable by death.  Subsequently the Irish Government was persuaded to support our efforts. A statement on the 14th of November 2003 by the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Brian Cowen TD pledging the Irish Government's support for the Irish Shot at Dawn Campaign indicates a commitment to respect and vindicate the diversity of all our traditions and will be seen as a positive contribution to the momentum toward reconciliation on this island. On the 10th of December 2003 members of the Irish Parliament debated and showed their support for the Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl. On Thursday 28th October 2004 the newly appointed Irish Minister for Foreign affairs announced the submission of a Report to the British Government on the twenty-six Irish soldiers ‘Shot at Dawn’ during World War l. On Thursday the 4th of November 2004 in the company of a news team from Channel 4, the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939) presented into the care of the Irish War Memorial at Islandbridge, Dublin, a list of all Irish Born British soldiers executed during world war one including copies of their courtsmartial files. On Thursday 11th of November 2004 Armistice Day the Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl petition was formally shut down from our website at 11.02hrs directly after the two minutes silence. The petition was then made available for a final signing from 12pm to 3pm outside the GPO in Dublin. (In an act of reconciliation the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46) supported the endeavour of the Royal British Legion Republic of Ireland Branch in their annual poppy appeal by also having poppies available outside the GPO for the first time in many years). On Tuesday 28th March 2006 Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern T.D laid before the Oireachtas a Report into the courts-martial and execution of 26 Irish-born British soldiers during the First World War, prepared in 2004 by his Department. The Minister in calling for pardons stated:

1. Our unwavering objective is to engage in finding an agreed resolution on this issue that would bring comfort to the families of those executed.

2. The Minister recalled that this year marked the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. He stressed that it was in the spirit of recognising the experience and sacrifice of all our countrymen who fell during the First World War, that the Government had lent its support to the campaign to secure pardons for those Irish men who were 'shot at dawn'.

3. It is our objective to recover their memory from the dishonour that was done to them some 90 years ago.

4. A Debate was subsequently held in the Seanad on the Irish Shot at Dawn. see Irish Seanad Debates-Shot at Dawn Campaign: Statements.

Peter Mulvany is chairperson of the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) and co-ordinator for the Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl. He is an honours law graduate and post graduate of University College Dublin; is an arts administrator by profession and is currently employed with Dublin Bus; he is as a member of the Alumni Association University College Dublin (An Oifig Forbartha d'Alumni); member of  Na Píobairí Uilleann (The Society of Uilleann Pipers); and the next of kin of Patricio McCarthy lost on the Steam Trawler Leukos 9th March 1940 (who is the only Argentine national to have lost his life on an Irish registered vessel during World War Two). On the 24th February 2002 the Irish Mercantile Marine (Valour) Medal posthumously awarded by the Irish Government to Patricio McCarthy after the WW2,  was presented to his next of kin Peter Mulvany by Mr Hugh Byrne TD Minister of  State for Marine and Natural Resources in Dublin Castle. Patricio's citation was presented by his excellency Mr Victor E Beauge Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to Ireland. This posthumous award is the Highest Decoration issued by the Irish Government for service on Irish registered vessels from 1939-46 and is only granted in the exceptional case of bravery, death or disablement of a seaman through belligerent action. On Sunday the 31st of August 2003 members of the Argentine Navy attended a memorial mass  in Foxford, County Mayo; birth place of Grand-Admiral William Brown founder of the Argentine Navy. With permission of the Irish Government; courtesy of the Irish Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources, Patricio McCarthy's Valour Medal was presented by his next of kin Mr Peter Mulvany, to Lieutenant Santiago Michaelis Roldan Argentine Navy, for eventual display in the dedicated Irish section of the Armada Argentina Museo Naval De La Nacion (Argentine Naval Museum of the Nation) located in Tigre, Buenos Aires. Patricio's name is recorded with his shipmates on the roll of honour of the Irish Merchant Seamens Memorial located on City Quay in Dublin. The names of the crews lost on the Steam Trawler Leukos and SS Ardmore are also remembered on the seamens memorial in Kilmore Quay County Wexford. On the 24th of September 2001, sponsored by the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) the Irish Merchant Navy Memorial Plaque and Plinth uniquely embossed with the Irish flag commemorating those crews lost on Irish registered vessels during World War Two was erected in the British Merchant Navy Section of the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, England, which is managed by the Royal British Legion. On Saturday 1st September 2007 Shipmate Harry Callan unveiled the Newly Refurbished Irish Merchant Navy Plaque dedicated to all who lost their lives on Irish Merchant Ships and Fishing Fleet during world war two. Shipmate Callan also unveiled a memorial plaque recording the names of the 5 Irish Born Merchant  Seamen who lost their lives as a result of Gestapo ill-treatment in the Arbeitsertziehungslager Located in Bremen-Farge 1943-45. For contact: email mulvanypeterie@yahoo.co.uk

		Visitors to this site so far
		Browse Ireland Web Directory Search for Irish Websites

Please note: This website inter alia is protected by the law on copyright : Permission is required to reproduce any section in whole or in part