Family victory as medal returned

A series of coincidences has seen a First World War medal returned to the family of the Kerry soldier who owned it — 70 years after it was stolen in England.

While the medal was one of three in Denis Tangney’s suitcase stolen in a London train station in the 1940s, it was located only 20km from where his family still lives today in Tralee.

The discovery was made by Castleisland man, Dermot McCarthy, when he cleared out a cottage in the area a few years ago. The inscription for Pte D.E. Tangney of the Royal Munster Fusiliers seemed like enough information to go on to locate its rightful owner or his family.