Dara Fitzpatrick latest to perish in the line of duty

Capt Dara Fitzpatrick died on mission with an Irish Coast Guard helicopter off the Mayo coast early on Tuesday morning while three of her colleagues are missing and feared dead. She joins the many Irish men and women who dedicated and lost their lives trying to protect others.

Caitríona Lucas died on mission in September 2016 off the Clare coast. The 41-year-old mother of two, attached to the Doolin Coast Guard unit was on board Kilkee Coast Guard’s rigid inflatable boat (RIB) during a search for missing Clare teacher David McMahon, when it capsized in rough seas on September 12th. She was the first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to die while on a rescue mission.

In September 2007 two part-time firefighters were killed in a blaze at a factory in Bray, Co Wicklow. The two firefighters who died were Brian Murray (46), a senior and experienced officer and a father of 15 children, and Mark O’Shaughnessy (25). The blaze erupted in a disused factory at Adelaide Villas in Bray.

All told, 88 gardaí have died while on active service for the force. Most of those killed were involved in road traffic incidents or died while trying to rescue others. At least 30 members of the force were either shot or violently killed.

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Tony Golden

Among those who have been killed in recent times are Garda Tony Golden who was shot dead after responding to a domestic disturbance at a house in Co Louth after a woman said she was afraid her partner was going to kill her and himself. Gardaí escorted her to the property to collect personal items but when she entered the home, a man shot her. Garda Golden, a married father of three, was fatally shot with a handgun by the woman’s partner, dissident republican Adrian Crevan Mackin, who then took his own life.

Det Garda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead in Bellurgan on January 25th, 2013. The father of three, who was in his 40s, was shot in the head as he stepped from his vehicle during a botched raid on Lordship credit union. His killers fled back into south Armagh with a €4,000 bag of cash. Nobody has yet been charged with his killing.

Father of three Andrew Callanan died in 1999 after he was doused in petrol and set alight. Daniel O’Toole entered the Tallaght Garda station and poured petrol over himself. Sgt Callanan attempted to disarm him. However, the man threw petrol at him and set it alight.

In 1996 Det Garda Jerry McCabe and a colleague, Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan, were on duty escorting a post office truck during a cash delivery at Adare, Co Limerick. As the patrol car pulled up close by, a vehicle driven by members of the IRA crashed into their vehicle. Within seconds, other gang members opened fire on the patrol car. Det Garda McCabe was killed and his colleague was seriously wounded.

Sgt Patrick McLoughlin was asleep in the early hours of April 11th, 1983, when he heard a knock on the door of Dunboyne Garda station. He opened the upstairs window to see who was there. He was shot and died later from his injuries.