The 100th birthday of a retired member of the Defence Forces was marked by a special ceremony at McKee Barracks in Dublin at the weekend.
Lieut Col Sean Clancy, who joined the Volunteers in 1918 and served in the Defence Forces until his retirement in 1959, inspected a guard of honour drawn from the 5th Infantry Battalion. He was the 13th officer commanding the 5th Battalion, leading it from 1954 to 1958.
A former colleague, who served in McKee barracks, Lieut Col J.P. Duggan, said Lieut Col Clancy was "a man of great integrity and honesty, who performed a great service to the people. He hurled for the Army. He was a great family man, and he did his country proud."
Born in Clonlara, Co Clare, on July 7th, 1901, Lieut Col Clancy served with the Clonlara Company, the East Clare Brigade and the Dublin Brigade before joining the National Army in Portobello Barracks, Dublin, in 1922. During his career, he served in Limerick, Castlebar, GHQ Dublin, Mullingar, Cathal Brugha Barracks and Griffith Barracks, Dublin. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1954 and retired on age grounds on July 7th, 1959.
After he inspected the guard of honour at the ceremony on Saturday, he was presented with two items. The first was elements of the modern 5th battalion, all mounted in a glass frame: a lanyard, the flash of the Eastern Brigade, the flash of the 5th Battalion and rank markers of a lieutenant colonel.
He was also presented, by the current Officer Commanding the 5th Battalion, Lieut Col Billy O'Hara, with a bronze statuette of Gen Michael Collins. This presentation had particular significance for Lieut Col Clancy, because he was on guard duty in Dublin Castle on the day Collins took it over from the Viceroy. After the presentation, Lieut Col Clancy inspected Sliabh na mBan, the armoured car in which Collins was killed.
Family, friends and former colleagues all attended the event, which was held on Saturday evening. Lieut Col Clancy said it was great to be surrounded by so many family and friends. Lieut Col O'Hara wished him many more "long and healthy years".
At the ceremony, the guard of honour and the band were composed of members of the 5th Battalion. The officer of the guard was Second Lieut Patrick Sheehan, and Sgt Anthony Byrne led the band.