Honouring the bravery of West Cork garda pioneers

THE 100th anniversary of the first garda sergeant to be killed on duty was recently marked with a reverential ceremony.

Sgt James Woods was first stationed in Bantry before taking up a post at Scartaglen in Co Kerry, where he was killed in a raid on December 3rd, 1923.

Garda Patrick Spillane, who served in Skibbereen from April 9th 1935 until his death in 1981, was badly beaten in the same raid.

His son, Pat Spillane – who was born in Skibbereen in 1947, and lived in the town until he joined the gardaí in 1967, said his father, a native of Blarney, was born in 1901 and was a member of the Irish Volunteers from 1918 to 1922. ‘He was first stationed in Scartaglen in Co Kerry and at 8.30pm on December 3rd 1923 the barracks was attacked by six armed and masked men.’

Colm Wallace, author of The Fallen – Gardaí killed in service 1922-49, recalls the event and how three of the armed men entered a crowded kitchen where Gda Patrick Spillane, Jeremiah Lyons, his wife and six children, as well as two brothers James and Michael Kearney were present.

Pat takes up the story saying his father, a station orderly, was set upon and ordered to put his hands up, which he did. Gda Spillane was struck with the butt of a rifle and his nose was broken.

Next, they dragged him towards the stairs and ordered him to climb up as the armed men followed closely behind. When they reached the second floor he was ordered to strip. He refused, saying he was ‘prepared to die in defence of his Garda uniform.’

One of the men threatened to shoot him if he did not strip. Again, he refused and the raider told him that if he didn’t strip it would go worse for him.

‘He bravely stood his ground,’ said Pat. ‘He was badly beaten and forced onto a bed and they ripped his uniform from him. On hearing the commotion Sgt Woods came into the kitchen. ‘He was prodded with a rifle near his neck and a shot went off. He was killed instantly and in the commotion that followed the raiders fled.’

Patrick Spillane went on to serve at garda stations in Tralee, Ballybunion, and Listowel and on May 20th 1934 was transferred to Drimoleague. He was assigned to his final station in Skibbereen on April 9th 1935 and remained there until his retirement in 1952.

In the four decades that Gda Spillane lived and worked in Skibbereen he was held in the highest esteem and his passing, at St Anne’s Hospital in Skibbereen in 1981, was a sad occasion.

‘As a family we are all very proud of him,’ said Pat, who recalled how during The Emergency, from 1939 to 1945, he was seconded from the gardaí and became the district administrative officer of the Local Defence Force for the Skibbereen area.

General Éoin O’Duffy, who gave the oration at the grave of Sgt James Woods, praised Gda Spillane’s courage.

Pat Spillane said he was glad to report that for 29 years his father had a long and happy retirement.