In the history of the Defence Forces it is thought no unit has ever earned four Distinguished Service Medals simultaneously, but this will occur in Galway next month, when four Renmore-based 1st Infantry Battalion members will achieve that milestone.
It will also be the first time a woman has been awarded a Distinguished Service Medal (DSM ) for her specific actions, rather than exemplary military service, and the first time a female soldier, rather than an officer, will receive the gong.
In February, Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee, will award four DSMs for non-wartime acts of “bravery, courage, leadership, resource or devotion to duty” in relation to the events of August 15, 2024, when the battalion’s chaplain, Fr Paul Murphy, was attacked at the gate of Renmore Barracks.
While driving his private vehicle into Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, on a summer night, the military padre was stabbed several times by a youth radicalised by online, extremist ideology, suffering seven serious wounds from an 8-inch hunting knife.
The teenager, who can not be named, was later sentenced to eight years for attempted murder. In a powerful victim impact statement delivered by Fr Murphy at the Central Criminal Court last April, the popular priest forgave his attacker, and the two reportedly embraced after the hearing.
Army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy, said the awarding of DSMs to these four members of 1 Inf Bn “is a fitting, and well deserved, recognition of their courage, professionalism and moral resolve in the face of a violent attack on Father Paul Murphy.”
An official communique from the Defence Forces said: “The swift and courageous action of the members of Oglaigh na hÉireann ensured no loss of life occurred, and demonstrated exceptional bravery and professionalism under extreme pressure”.
Barrack Guard on duty that night, Private Dylan Geraghty (19 ), from Caherlistrane, Co Galway, will receive the DSM with Honour. He will become only the 29th member of the Defence Forces in 62 years to receive the highest version of this medal, and only the seventh enlisted soldier.
His Barrack Guard superior, Corporal Daniel Padden (29 ), from Belmullet, is to receive the Distinguished Service Medal, with Distinction, for his swift command of the situation that night.
Private Ciara Shanahan (22 ), from Limerick, will receive the DSM, with Merit, for her attempts to deter the attacker, even while unarmed. She becomes only the second female Defence Forces’ member to receive the DSM, after Mervue’s own Major General Maureen O’Brien. Pvt Shanahan also becomes the first female enlisted soldier to win a DSM, and the first woman ever for a specific act of bravery and courage, rather than leadership, service or duty.
For his distinguished service arising from the violent attack, and for personifying the Defence Forces’ “Core Values” afterwards, Fr Paul Murphy (52 ), military chaplain, from Waterford, will also receive the DSM with Merit.
Speaking to the Advertiser’s correspondent in Lebanon last October, when Galway troops where stationed in Camp Shamrock as part of 126 Battalion, Fr Murphy expressed gratitude that it was him, not a younger comrade, who the troubled teen came across that fateful night.
“I suppose, in a sense, you know, that young fellow had come to kill, to literally kill a soldier. And I took it, and I suppose I took it with good grace,” he said.
Since its incorporation in 1964, only 143 DSMs have been awarded ‘in recognition of individual or associated acts of bravery, courage, leadership, resource or devotion to duty (other than any such acts or duty performed on war service ),’ according to the Oglaigh na hÉireann website.
It ranks just below the older Military Medal for Gallantry (MMG ), established in 1944, which is awarded for exceptional bravery or gallantry “…associated with military service, and involving risk to life and limb”.
The 1st battalion’s commanding officer, Lt Colonel Máirtín Coffey, told the Advertiser he was “immensely proud” of all the troops who responded to the August 2024 incident: “Especially because we suffered no fatalities due to exemplary actions, and I include the life of the perpetrator in that,” he said.
“We have learned a lot from that night. These medals will be marks of pride for these young soldiers throughout their military careers and beyond, but they are also a source of pride for everyone who ever serves alongside them.”
