Mountbatten’s murder ‘one of the darkest days in Irish history’

THE day Earl Mountbatten of Burma died was “one of the darkest days in modern Irish history” and a day of shame, a 30th anniversary memorial service in Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, was told yesterday.

The Revd Noel Regan, from Mullaghmore, now based at Belleek, Co Fermanagh, told a congregation of 500 at a service of remembrance and reconciliation: “For many, including myself, there was embarrassment, anger and upset that this was done in our name.

“There was a sense of hopelessness and above all shame that this could have happened here in Ireland, particularly to someone who had been through so much as a world statesman.”

Revd Regan, who worked as a chauffeur and archivist for Lord Mountbatten said: “It was a desecration of human life and also of a sanctuary – this sacred place set apart as a refuge by so many people over the years who loved Mullaghmore and came here for holidays and rest.”

Calling to mind the Mountbatten family, the rector said, Mullaghmore was also a place where “an old man” relaxed with his grandchildren.

Revd Regan suggested that consideration be given to a Mountbatten summer school in the village to attract visitors from around the world to learn of his life and of the fate of his family.

Lord Mountbatten died along with his teenage grandson Nicholas Knatchbull and 15-year-old deckhand, Paul Maxwell, when an IRA bomb exploded on their boat, Shadow V, on August 27, 1979. Lady Brabourne, the 83-year-old mother-in-law of Mountbatten’s daughter, died from her injuries next day.

Eighteen British soldiers killed by a bomb the same day at Warrenpoint, Co Down, were also remembered at yesterday’s inter-denominational service, attended in the Star of The Sea Catholic oratory by Paul Maxwell’s siblings, Robbie, Kerry, Donna and Lisa.

His father John was warmly applauded on reciting verses inspired by two birds that flew up close to him as he stood looking out to sea where his son died.

Ted Kennedy, the ambulance driver who carried the bodies of Lord Mountbatten and Nicholas Knatchbull away from the tragedy scene, recalled that his uncle and the earl would address each other by their first names.

Yesterday’s 80-minute ceremony was attended by former Classiebawn staff and by the castle’s present owner, retired meat baron Hugh Tunny. It was preceded by a short ceremony and two minutes’ silence at the pier overlooking the harbour at 11.15am – the exact moment when the bomb exploded 30 years ago.