1916 medal to go on display in Kerry Museum

THE 1916 medal, awarded posthumously to a young Kerry radio operator who died on his way to seize radio equipment on Valentia Island to contact the arms ship the Aud on Holy Thursday of that year, was yesterday handed over to the Kerry County Museum.

In what is believed to be one of the first tragedies of the Easter Rising, four days later radio operator Con Keating, of Renard, Cahersiveen, along with Charles Monahan from Belfast and Donal Sheehan from Newcastlewest, drowned when their car took a wrong turning and went off a treacherous pier at Ballykissane near Killorglin, on the night of April 20, hours before Roger Casement was being brought ashore at Banna Strand just miles away.

Con, who was from a strong nationalist background, had joined the Irish Volunteers on October 25, 1914. The party were on their way from Dublin. The driver survived.