Town mourns death of Nenagh soldier, who served in the Congo

A profound sense of sadness met the news earlier this month that Nenagh had lost another one of its characters, Joseph Mitchell of Knockanpierce and St Joseph's Park.
Joe was a familiar face to just about everyone in the town for many years. While involved in several facets of community life over those years, he will be perhaps best remembered for his service to the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Congo, and for the work he did in preserving the legacy of what happened on that fateful mission.
Joe was in the Congo at the time of the 'Niemba Massacre' in 1960, when nine Irish soldiers were butchered by Baluba tribesmen. It remains the single largest loss of life sustained by the Irish military since the foundation of the State.
Decades later, Joe, who was one of five Nenagh men serving with the 33rd Battalion in the Congo, spoke about the experience to the Nenagh Guardian. “It was frightening out there,” he said. Based at the nearby town of Manono, he told of the moment he learned about what had happened to his comrades at Niemba.
“You have no idea what that felt like... No one knows what it was like for us out there but I can tell you that was definitely a low point. We wouldn’t have known those lads personally, but we did know them to see them, we did serve alongside them, and that was enough.
“Things seemed to get a lot more dangerous after that; there were a lot more hostile situations. We were very nerved by the whole thing.
“Some of the bodies weren’t found for a long time after the massacre, and we heard stories that they’d been carried off and eaten.
“There were many tears shed after that, I can tell you. But we all learned to recover and deal with it in our own way. We were full of determination and the will to live.”
The Nenagh soldier also told of how ill-prepared the Irish troops were for the situation that awaited them in Africa. They were equipped with heavy winter clothing, totally unsuited to the high temperatures and humidity of the jungle, and weapons that were obsolescent. Manpower was stretched to the point that platoons often had to operate 72-hour shifts.
It was a definitive character-forming experience for Joe and his fellow Nenagh men – Mick Power, Frank Donnellan, Tommy Nagle and George Long – all of them only teenagers and overseas for the first time when they arrived in the Congo.
“You had to learn fast,” Joe recalled. “Raw recruits got turned into grown men very quickly out there.”
He spent seven months in the Congo, after which he returned to Ireland to continue his military career. He was subsequently deployed to the UN mission in Cyprus, where he was promoted to the level of driving instructor in the artillery.
Joe never lost his deep affinity with the peacekeeping missions and, following his retirement, he set about organising local ceremonies to honour the memory of those who served overseas. In 2005 he arranged a special Mass at the Church of St Mary of the Rosary to mark the 45th anniversary of the Niemba attack. This was attended by former members of the 33rd Battalion as well as relatives of the men who died in the massacre. The Mass was preceded by a parade of former military personnel through the town.
Five years later, Joe organised a 50th anniversary commemoration at St Mary's, which was followed by a ceremony at the garden of remembrance he created at Lisboney cemetery. Featuring a seat and three ceremonial flag poles with their own stand, the official opening of the garden by Town Mayor Tom Moylan was a moment of particular pride for Joe.
“It is important that these brave Irish soldiers are never forgotten,” he once said of his efforts to enshrine their memory. “People will be forgotten if these types of services are not continued. Names and much of our ongoing history may be forgotten. The Irish peacekeeper has always been held in high esteem, no matter where they served.”
Sadly, in later years Joe's health suffered and his smiling welcome faded from the streets of the town. He passed away at his home on January 12th at the age of 80. Following Mass at St Mary's, he was buried in Lisboney in a plot close to his beloved garden.
Predeceased by his father Joe, mother Brigid and sister Mary, Joe's passing is deeply regretted by his loving wife Marie and family Breda, Valerie, Marie, Joseph, Sandra, Pearse, Josephine, David and Majella, as well as his grandchildren and great grandchildren, brothers and sisters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends.
After all his work to keep the flame burning for those who passed before him, Joe's own memory will long live on in Nenagh for his family, friends and everyone who came to share the light of his life.
May he rest in peace.