To forget P.J. ‘would be the greatest hurt of all’ – widow of slain garda

Sergeant Patrick J. Morrissey died June 27, 1985.

The widow of Sergeant Patrick J. Morrissey, memorialised in his native Belturbet at the weekend on the eve of the 37th anniversary of his death, says it was the “violence” with which he met his end that still haunts her most.

“You can see from the tributes P.J. was very popular man. But he died looking at the face of someone filled with hate and anger. That for me is the hardest thing about his death, because [P.J.] was none of those things. He was my husband, a father, a friend to many. He was a mentor, a servant to this State. If he were to die in other ways the hurt from it might be less, but not the way he did. We can never change that.”

Sgt Morrissey was first shot and grievously wounded as he attempted to apprehend two INLA members who had earlier ambushed the manager of the Ardee Labour Exchange and made off with £25,000 cash. Sgt Morrissey joined the pursuit, which ended abruptly following a crash near Tallanstown, and he alone pursued the raiders on foot. As he caught up with them - Noel Callan from Cullaville and Michael McHugh from Crossmaglen, Co Armagh - the latter shot Sgt Morrissey in the leg.

Among government files released under the 30-year rule, then Minister for Justice Michael Noonan informed in a memo to cabinet: ‘Michael McHugh turned and fired, wounding Sgt Morrissey in the leg. As the sergeant lay on the ground one of the gunmen shouted at him to get up. The sergeant was unable to do so. As he tried to prop himself up, McHugh shot him in the face.’

RTÉ security correspondent at the time, Tom McCaughren, described the killing as an “execution”.

Sgt Morrissey’s killers were released from prison in late 2015 after serving 30 years behind bars, even though their initial death sentences were commuted on the basis they would serve a full 40 years without remission.

Sgt Morrissey was just 49 years when he died, married with four children.

He had joined An Garda Síochána in December 1960 having first served in the National Army.

He was promoted to Sergeant in October 1974, and assigned to Callan Garda Station. He also served at Tramore, Adelphi Quay, Drogheda, Dundrum, Stepaside, Fitzgibbon Street, Whitehall, Omeath, Bridewell and Garda Headquarters.

An experienced lifesaver, his allocation to HQ saw Sgt Morrissey play a major role in the development of the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, a legacy that continues to this day.

Sgt Morrissey was posthumously awarded the Scott Gold Medal in December 1986, and the posthumous Freedom of Drogheda in 2013.

He and Bernie were married almost 20 years at the time of his death. He never got to meet young Loughan, his grandson who attended the memorial service last Sunday, or any of his six other grandchildren.

Bernie says the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘what might have been’ still weigh on the minds of all the family, particularly on special occasions such as birthdays, weddings and anniversaries.

“That is the unquantifiable loss we’ve had to live with,” she says quietly.

Sgt Morrissey’s brother George was driving along the M6 passing Knutsford Service Station south-west of Manchester, when news of the murder was first reported on the radio in his cab.

“A garda sergeant had been killed, and his name was Morrissey and where it happened. I’d about 20 tonne of timber coming on the back coming up from Bristol and I’ll never know how I held that vehicle on the road,” he says.

Eamon Lawlor is a former colleague of the late Sgt Morrissey. He was due to work that same day, and was mowing his lawn in Drogheda when a radio dispatch informed him to drop everything and join an ensuing manhunt looking to track down two garda killers.

Mr Lawlor replaced Sgt Morrissey as sergeant at Callan four years after his death.

“He was murdered. Shot in the face when he was unable to get up of the ground. It was a horrific death for anyone to face, as plain and as dark as that.”

A garda for over 30 years, despite all he had lived through, Mr Lawlor admits to never having thought of the dangerous situations he might face while in uniform.

“It was only when I retired that my wife said to me that she worried about me every time I went out.”

The Wicklow native quickly remembers the sacrifice of all fallen colleagues since An Garda Síochaána’s formation 100 years ago this year. Locally they are Michael Walsh (1/10/42); Thomas O’Driscoll (22/1/58); Gary Sheehan and Pte Patrick Kelly (16/12/83); Patrick Morrissey (27/6/85); Det Gda Adrian Donohoe (25/1/13).

Each of those men were prayed for at the ecumenical service organised by the Cavan branch of the Garda Síochána Retired Members Association, which took place at the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday afternoon, June 26.

This was followed by a parade to the memorial erected in honour of Sgt Morrissey at Morrissey Park, where a wreath was laid by GRSMA President Joe Derwin.

Afterwards, Bernie Morrissey who with the rest of the Morrissey family were each presented with a GRMSA lapel pin, said she was “very grateful” to those who organised the event.

“It’s lovely. To be forgotten would be the greatest hurt of all,” said Bernie.

Local GRSMA branch member, Earnan Gilleran, who assisted in coordinating the earlier memorial to Inspector Sam Donegan outside Cavan Garda Station, stated: “This year in particular, with the centenary of An Garda Síochána. There is a lovely Liam Lawton hymn whcih goes ‘There is a time to remember, a time to recall’. I feel those words are very poignant this year.

“It’s not only Patrick that we remember, but the 90 plus guards on the Roll of Honour who’ve died in the course of their duty. We remember them all.”

May they all rest in peace.