Marine heroes honoured for bravery
A total of 55 medals for outstanding bravery were presented by Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Noel Ahern, at the fourth Marine Meritorious Awards in Dublin Castle.
Gold medals were awarded to Corkmen, Peter O’Keeffe, 36, from Ovens and Jonathan Herlihy, 22, from Glanmire.
The men, who did not know each other, were walking along the beach in September 2006 when they heard the cries for help from a drowning couple.
They raced into the water and threw a lifebuoy to the couple. As they attempted to return to the shore, however, they were swept away by the current.
The young couple made it safely to the beach with the aid of the lifebuoy.
Both men were awarded the Michael Heffernan gold medal for Marine Gallantry.
The awards were accepted by Peter’s father, Reg, and by Jonathan’s brother, Christopher.
“We are very appreciative of the award which is an acknowledgement of what happened and of Peter’s bravery,” said Mr O’Keeffe.
“We obviously wish we were not here. It brings back sad memories for everyone.”
Christopher Herlihy, 21, said the family had collected numerous awards for his brother’s bravery and it always made them sad as well as proud.
“I suppose it is nice the way he just went in such an heroic fashion. It reflected his personality,” he said.
Josephine McCaughy brushed away tears as she collected a gold medal for her twin brother, Seamus Byrne, who drowned in April 2002 while trying to help a diver in difficulty in Kilkee, Co Clare.
The diver had got into difficulty after being thrown against rocks at the base of a cliff in Kilkee. Mr Byrne, 39, had climbed down the cliff and used his shirt to pull the driver up onto the rocks.
As he was pulling the diver to safety, however, a large wave threw him against the cliff, killing him instantly.
The diver succeeded in swimming to safety and was rescued by a boat.
Bronze medals were awarded to two teenagers, Conor Doherty, 15, and Ryan Hamill, 16, from Bundoran, Co Donegal, for rescuing three children from the sea at Tullan strand after their canoe capsized in August 2007.
Although neither have lifesaving skills, they swam 300 yards and took the children to safety.
Another bronze award recipient was deaf mother of four, Anne Kiely, of Co Kerry who helped get two children and an adult who got into difficulty in strong currents off Beale Beach in July 2007.
“I was terrified when I got out and realised what I had done. There was such a huge volume of water and nothing to hold on to,” she recalled
Awards were also presented to members of the Irish Coast Guard, RNLI, trawler crews, community rescue teams and those involved in the search for the Pere Charles and Honeydew II which sank off the south east coast last year.
The awards were introduced a decade ago by former Marine Minister, Dr Michael Woods, for people who have shown particular bravery in an emergency incident.
