On June 6th, we will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the largest amphibious invasion in history, when approximately 156,000 Allied troops participated in a combined air, sea and land assault on five beaches in Normandy, France. The goal of the operation was to liberate northwest Europe from Nazi control and bring an end to World War II. Archbishop Eamon Martin, invited to speak at a ceremony in Normandy to mark these events, will honour Army Chaplain Fr. Jack O’Brien, nephew of Tommy Hegarty, late of Hall Street, Kingscourt.
Jack was born in 1918 in Donamon, Co Roscommon, the eldest of the four children of stationmaster Thomas Joseph O’Brien and Mary Elizabeth Hegarty, Tommy’s sister. He was educated in Killala, Ballinrobe and St Nathy’s College in Ballaghadereen. In 1936, he joined the Maynooth Mission to China (Columbans) and was ordained to the priesthood in December 1942. Because of travel restrictions during World War 2, he could not take up a missionary post in the Far East, so he applied to become an Army Chaplain in the British Army. In May 1944, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Ulster Rifles.
Within days, he was crossing the English Channel, heading for the Normandy coast. On the morning of June 6th, hours after an airborne assault, he landed with the 2nd Battalion on the beach codenamed Sword. For the next ten months, he travelled across Northern Europe, where he witnessed some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. As a non-combatant, he did not bear arms. His role was to provide spiritual support, pastoral care and moral guidance. Chaplains often acted as stretcher-bearers and ambulance crew, delivered basic first aid, and administered the Last Rites. He quickly earned the respect and trust of the troops under his care, and, in turn, his commanding officer spoke highly of him.
Fr. Jack remained with the Royal Ulster Rifles until travel restrictions were lifted in 1948, and he was sent to Mokpo in South Korea to join fellow Columbans American-born Monsignor Patrick Brennan and Clareman Fr. Tommie Cusack. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out between the Communist-backed North and the West-backed South. When the Communists drew close to Mokpo, the three priests were offered but refused safe passage out of the area, choosing to stay with their parishioners. By July 25th, they were imprisoned in the local jail. Then, they spent a few weeks in Kwangju before being transferred to Taejon. On the night of September 24th, the North Korean army, forced to retreat northwards up the Korean peninsula, carried out a general massacre of prisoners. The three Columbans were confirmed dead on November 18th, but their remains were never found.
Archbishop Martin is bringing a photograph of Fr. Jack with him to Normandy. The photograph was given to Tommy Hegarty by Fr. Jack’s family and was loaned to the Archbishop by Mae Hegarty, widow of Tommy’s son Michael. Tommy was a great GAA man, winning an Ulster Championship medal with Cavan in 1924 and a Connacht Championship medal with Galway in 1926. He also won Club Championship medals with Kingscourt Stars and Donamon (Oran). A County Board representative for Kingscourt Stars for many years, he was an Honorary President until he died in 1961.Tommy married Margaret Hand in 1918 and together they reared a family of seven – Peter, Thomas, Jack, Mylie, Francis, Michael and Maureen (Yorke). Another daughter, Margaret, died aged two.
Mass will be offered for Fr. Jack in Kingscourt on June 9th at 12 noon and all are welcome