Killeagh prays for critically ill soldier as nation mourns fallen comrade
Pictured at a prayer service in St. John the Baptist in Killeagh for Shane Kearney were members of the Defence Forces from Collins Barracks Cork. Picture: Denis Boyle
As the nation mourned the death of Private Seán Rooney, the community in Killeagh, Co Cork marched solemnly to church to pray for his comrade, Trooper Shane Kearney who was critically injured in the same attack.
The pair were shot at by a mob while on peacekeeping duty with the United Nations in Lebanon on Wednesday night.
The people of Killeagh gathered to support his parents, Paudie and Phyl, and his sister, Amy, at a prayer service at St John the Baptist Church, where they also remembered Private Rooney.
“They’re just hoping and praying he’ll pull through,” Father Tim Hazelwood said after talking to Tpr Kearney’s family.
A warm light glowed out into the cold night from the church's ornate stained glass windows as hundreds of people came to pray for Tpr Kearney.
Grief-stricken faces passed through the church doors and filed into packed pews.
A framed photo of Tpr Kearney in uniform stood alongside a heather plant on a table to greet the faithful. Many people made their way to the front of the church to tearfully hug the Kearney family.
Outside the church, men stood silently in military uniform, too distressed to talk.
Dermot Motherway, a close friend of Tpr Kearney, said that the community was there to rally around his family.
“I spoke to him last week. He said he was enjoying himself out there but couldn’t wait to get home, he was just doing his stint outside and he’d get home to us eventually.
“He’s hard-working, he knew what he had to do and he just did it.”
Several investigations are underway after the soldiers' UN jeep was ambushed by a "hostile mob" in Lebanon.
Private Seán Rooney, 23, a native of Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, who grew up in Dundalk and whose family is steeped in military tradition, was fatally wounded when the UN jeep he was driving was attacked in a village just south of Beirut at about 9.15pm Irish time, 11.15pm local time, on Wednesday night.
Tpr Shane Kearney, 22, from Killeagh in East Cork, suffered serious injuries in the attack.
The two men and six other comrades, all members of 121st Infantry Battalion who have been on Unifil peacekeeping duty in Lebanon since November, were travelling in two separate armoured utility vehicles (AUVs) from their base in southern Lebanon, northbound along a coastal route to Beirut, on an 'administrative run' to the airport to drop two soldiers who had been granted compassionate leave to return to Ireland following family bereavements when the attack occurred.
They set off on the well-known 'admin route' in AUVs with UN markings but one of the vehicles encountered a roadblock in the village of al-Aqbieh, just outside Unifil's area of operations in south Lebanon, and came under sustained small arms fire.
It crashed into a building and overturned, landing on its side.
Four soldiers were injured and were taken to Raee Hospital, near Sidon but Pte Rooney, who had been shot, was pronounced dead on arrival.
He is the 88th member of the Defence Forces to die on active duty overseas.
He joined the Defence Forces in March 2019 and his home unit is the 27 Infantry Battalion in Dundalk. He previously served overseas with the 119 Infantry Battalion Unifil.
His late father served in the Defence Forces, and he has three uncles who are currently serving in the army.
Tpr Kearney suffered severe head injuries in the crash and underwent surgery before being relocated later to a UN-controlled hospital in Hamud where he remained in critical condition last night.
Tpr Kearney joined the Defence Forces in October 2018 and his home Unit is 1 Cavalry Squadron in Collins Barracks, Cork. He previously served overseas with the 117 Infantry Battalion.
The other two soldiers injured in the incident were treated for minor injuries. The four in the second jeep were not injured and are safe.
Unifil said details about what happened are "sparse and conflicting".
"We are coordinating with the Lebanese Armed Forces, and have launched an investigation to determine exactly what happened," it said.
But it's understood the investigations will try to establish if one of the jeeps became separated from the convoy and strayed into a Hezbollah-controlled area.
Hezbollah has denied involvement and said the incident involved the residents of al-Aqbieh.
The Chief of Staff of Óglaigh na hÉireann, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, described it as a “dark day” for the Defence Forces but said members of the 121st Infantry Battalion are "resolutely determined" to see out their peacekeeping mission until May.
President Michael D Higgins led tributes to Pte Rooney and said Ireland takes great pride in our unbroken record of peacekeeping with the UN.
"However, we must never forget the dangers that come with this work, or how the members of our Defence Forces serving on peacekeeping missions abroad risk their lives every day in order to build and maintain peace in conflict zones across the world," he said.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin also paid tribute and said the incident is a reminder that our peacekeepers serve in dangerous circumstances, at all times, in the cause of peace.
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