SOME 23 people were recognised for their outstanding acts of bravery at a ceremony in Leinster House yesterday.
The honours were awarded by Comhairle na Mire Gaile – the Deeds of Bravery Council – which gives State recognition for acts of bravery.
Sixteen awards were made to people who saved others, or attempted to save others, from drowning.
The remaining seven awards involved rescue from fires. Eight awards went to gardaí.
One of the gold award winners, Paddy Seán Fogarty, died as he attempted to save the life of his friend, Fr Willie Murphy.
The priest got into trouble while swimming at Inny Strand in Waterville, Co Kerry, in 1989. Mr Fogarty tried to save him but both men died.
Mr Fogarty’s daughter, Trish Horgan, said it was in her father’s nature to help others without ever accepting anything in return.
“He was a wonderful, very caring man and he loved people.”
His son, John Fogarty, said it was very emotional to see his father’s bravery being recognised nationally after all those years. “They say time makes things easier but I think today really brought it all back, and the extent to which people do selfless acts. It’s quite amazing really.”
The second gold award went to firefighter Thomas Falconer. He was off duty in September 1999 when he saw a house on fire in Waterford city.
He crawled through thick smoke and pulled an unconscious woman to safety.
Michael Bracken saved a young man from drowning just minutes after he had been reflecting on his own father’s drowning.
He tried but failed to save his father Pat from drowning in a reservoir 22 years ago. He said he had been talking to someone about his father’s anniversary moments before he got in his van and was driving along Camden Quay in Cork. His son spotted a young man on the railings beside the river and said he looked like he was going to go into the river.
“I just jumped in,” he recalled. “I just got a flashback to my own father and said, ‘well, he’s alive, I hope I’ll be able to save him’.”
Cherie Eustace (29) said she was still having treatment for injuries sustained in a fire, more than five years ago.
She was asleep in a Dublin apartment with her grandparents William and Eileen Eustace when an explosion awoke her. The electricity box was on fire and the fire quickly spread. Her grandmother escaped and Cherie ran upstairs to save her grandfather who was still asleep.
The hall was engulfed in smoke so she took him into the bathroom and started screaming out the window for help. She suffered from severe smoke inhalation and spent a month in hospital afterwards. Her grandfather has since died but she said she felt the award was a recognition of his life.
Dáil Ceann Comhairle Seamus Kirk, who chairs the Deeds of Bravery Council, said these people were heroes and had all shown outstanding bravery.
The council includes the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, the chairman of the Irish Red Cross, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Lord Mayor of Cork, the director of the Association of City and County Councils and the Garda Commissioner.
People must be nominated for the awards and there is no time limit for making nominations.
Some of yesterday’s deeds of bravery happened more than 20 years ago.
Gold Medal awards
Paddy Seán Fogarty lost his life trying to save his friend, Fr Willie Murphy, from drowning at Inny Strand in Co Kerry in 1989. Both men died.
Off-duty firefighter Thomas Falconer pulled a person to safety from a house on fire in Waterford city in 1999.
Silver Medal awards
Emergency medical technician John Shanahan saved a woman from drowning in the river Suir in September 1988.
David McGowan saved a man from drowning in Easkey, Co Sligo in March 2007.
In 2005 Cherie Eustace moved her grandfather to safety during a fire in his Dublin apartment and shouted for help until the fire brigade arrived.
Friends Conor Doherty and Ryan Hamill rescued three children from the sea at Tullan Strand, Bundoran, Co Donegal in August 2007.
Bronze Medal awards
Michael Bracken saved a young man from drowning after he spotted him on Camden Quay in Cork city.
Seán Moloney and Gerard Byrnes saved a man from drowning in the river Shannon in April 1999. Gerard Byrnes has since died.
Stephen Earles pulled an elderly man to safety after his house caught fire on Rosbrien Road in Limerick.
Fire fighter Drew Doherty saved a young woman from drowning at Scotch Quay in Waterford in July 2006.
Garda Nigel McInaw saved a woman from drowning in the River Boyne in 2005.
Kieran Stevenson saved an injured man from drowning in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim.
Garda Niall Doody, with Garda Edel Convey, saved a young woman from drowning in Co Clare in 2008.
Certificates
Garda John O’Reilly and Garda Enda Hughes saved a woman from drowning in Dundalk in 2004. Garda Hughes has since died.
Patricia McTague and Noel McTague raised the alarm when they saw a shop on fire in Harold’s Cross, Dublin and alerted the residents living above the shop who escaped before an explosion.
Garda James Wade saved a woman from drowning in Youghal, in Co Cork, in October 2007.
Garda Janet O’Neill and Garda Helen McSweeney alerted occupants to a fire in a block of apartments in Waterford city in 2001.
Garda Edel Convey was awarded a certificate for her role in helping rescue a woman from the river Fergus, Co Clare, along with her colleague, Garda Niall Doody.
