Jerry McCabe
Encyclopedia
Detective Garda Jerry McCabe (22 November 1943 – 7 June 1996) was a member of the Garda Síochána
, the police force of the Republic of Ireland
. McCabe was murdered in Adare
, County Limerick
on 7 June 1996, by members of the paramilitary group, the Provisional IRA, during the attempted robbery of a post office van.
, County Kerry
on 22 November 1943. He was married to Anne, herself the daughter of a Garda. The couple lived in Limerick
and had five children, John, Mark, Ian, Stacey, and Desmond, known as Ross. John and Ross are serving members of An Garda Síochána.
van at 6:50 am on the morning of 7 June 1996
when Detective Garda Ben O'Sullivan noticed a Pajero
heading towards them from behind. The car collided with them. Two men wearing balaclavas jumped out of the Pajero, and fired 15 rounds from an AK-47
at the detectives. Three rounds hit Jerry McCabe, killing him. His colleague, O'Sullivan was seriously injured, having been hit 11 times. One bullet strayed and lodged in the Garda patrol car, an Opel Vectra
. They were fired automatically by the gunman. O’Sullivan, who was driving the car, has said that he is convinced it was deliberate, controlled shooting.
Shortly after the shooting, a Mitsubishi Lancer
arrived and the would-be robbers made their getaway in it. No money had been stolen by them, but both vehicles used at the crime scene had been stolen.
The Gardaí had been armed with .38 Smith & Wesson
revolvers and an Uzi
, but the trial concluded that they had not had time to use them.
Bullet casings found at the scene were unique to the IRA in Ireland at the time.
The killing of Detective McCabe happened four months after the breakdown of the first IRA ceasefire in 1996. The Army Council
of the IRA initially denied involvement, but later admitted that individual members were involved "in contravention of its orders". Later Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams
would state that the operation was "not authorised by the Army Council, but authorised at a lower level by an authorised person". Initially, the killing was denounced by the leadership of Sinn Féin
, but later the party lobbied for the early release of McCabe's killers under the terms of the Belfast Agreement
. In 2005, the prisoners stated that they did not want their release "to be part of any further negotiations with the Irish government."
Pearse McAuley
from Strabane
and three County Limerick
men - Jeremiah Sheehy, Michael O’Neill and Kevin Walsh - were convicted by the non-jury Special Criminal Court
of manslaughter
. McAuley had escaped from Brixton Prison in 1991 while awaiting prosecution over an IRA campaign in England
and had jumped bail in the Republic of Ireland
two months before the shooting. O'Neill was released from prison on 15 May 2007 with Sheehy released on 4 February 2008. Walshe and McAuley were released on the 5th August 2009 after completing their full sentence. Sinn Féin
had campaigned for their release under the Good Friday Agreement despite the Irish Government
's insistence that these prisoners were excluded during the negotiations for the treaty. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
accused the Irish government of "double standards" by not granting those responsible for the killing early release, as part of the Good Friday Agreement.
Detective Garda Jerry McCabe's widow Anne has been praised for the way she conducted herself since the shooting. In New York in 2006, she challenged Gerry Adams as to why his organisation was calling for the release of the men convicted of the killing. In 2000 she was presented with a Gold Scott Medal
. The Scott Medal is the highest honour bestowed by the Republic of Ireland on a Garda who has shown exceptional courage and heroism risking their lives in their work as police officers.
in New York
, USA. The purpose of the exchange is to promote the sharing of practices and technologies in policing and criminal justice between Ireland and the United States
. Detective Garda Jerry McCabe's son John was the first recipient of the fellowship in 1997.
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
, the police force of the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. McCabe was murdered in Adare
Adare
-General information:Adare's origin is as a settlement by a crossing point on the river Maigue. It is situated 16 km from Limerick City. Renowned as one of Ireland's prettiest villages, Adare is designated as a Heritage Town by the Irish government...
, County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
on 7 June 1996, by members of the paramilitary group, the Provisional IRA, during the attempted robbery of a post office van.
Early life
Detective Garda McCabe was born in BallylongfordBallylongford
Ballylongford is a village near Listowel in north County Kerry, Ireland.-Geography:The village is situated at the top of a creek of Ballylongford Bay on the tidal estuary of the River Shannon, close to Carrigafoyle Island and on the coast road between Tarbert and the seaside town of...
, County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
on 22 November 1943. He was married to Anne, herself the daughter of a Garda. The couple lived in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
and had five children, John, Mark, Ian, Stacey, and Desmond, known as Ross. John and Ross are serving members of An Garda Síochána.
The robbery
The two detectives were escorting an An PostAn Post
An Post is the State-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland. An Post provides a universal postal service to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union...
van at 6:50 am on the morning of 7 June 1996
when Detective Garda Ben O'Sullivan noticed a Pajero
Mitsubishi Pajero
The Mitsubishi Pajero is a sport utility vehicle manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. It was named after Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas Cat which is native to the Patagonia plateau region of southern Argentina. However, since pajero is an offensive term for "wanker" in Spanish, alternative names have...
heading towards them from behind. The car collided with them. Two men wearing balaclavas jumped out of the Pajero, and fired 15 rounds from an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
at the detectives. Three rounds hit Jerry McCabe, killing him. His colleague, O'Sullivan was seriously injured, having been hit 11 times. One bullet strayed and lodged in the Garda patrol car, an Opel Vectra
Opel Vectra
The Opel Vectra is a large family car that was engineered and produced by Opel. In the United Kingdom, the car was sold under the Vauxhall marque as the Vauxhall Cavalier and later as the Vauxhall Vectra, from 1995 onwards...
. They were fired automatically by the gunman. O’Sullivan, who was driving the car, has said that he is convinced it was deliberate, controlled shooting.
Shortly after the shooting, a Mitsubishi Lancer
Mitsubishi Lancer
The Mitsubishi Lancer is a family car built by Mitsubishi Motors. It has been known as the Colt Lancer, Dodge/Plymouth Colt, Chrysler Valiant Lancer, Chrysler Lancer, Eagle Summit, Hindustan Lancer, Soueast Lioncel, Mitsubishi Carisma, and Mitsubishi Mirage in various countries at different times,...
arrived and the would-be robbers made their getaway in it. No money had been stolen by them, but both vehicles used at the crime scene had been stolen.
The Gardaí had been armed with .38 Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
revolvers and an Uzi
Uzi submachine gun
The Uzi is a family of Israeli open bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns. Smaller variants are considered to be machine pistols. The Uzi was one of the first weapons to use a telescoping bolt design which allows for the magazine to be housed in the pistol grip for a shorter weapon.The first Uzi...
, but the trial concluded that they had not had time to use them.
Bullet casings found at the scene were unique to the IRA in Ireland at the time.
Aftermath
Up to 50,000 people lined the streets of Limerick city for Jerry McCabe's funeral.The killing of Detective McCabe happened four months after the breakdown of the first IRA ceasefire in 1996. The Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
of the IRA initially denied involvement, but later admitted that individual members were involved "in contravention of its orders". Later Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
would state that the operation was "not authorised by the Army Council, but authorised at a lower level by an authorised person". Initially, the killing was denounced by the leadership of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
, but later the party lobbied for the early release of McCabe's killers under the terms of the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
. In 2005, the prisoners stated that they did not want their release "to be part of any further negotiations with the Irish government."
Pearse McAuley
Pearse McAuley
Pearse McAuley is a former Provisional IRA Volunteer, who escaped from Brixton Prison in London on 7 July 1991 along with his cellmate Nessan Quinlivan, while awaiting trial on charges relating to a suspected IRA plot to assassinate a former brewery company chairman, Sir Charles Tidbury.McAuley...
from Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....
and three County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
men - Jeremiah Sheehy, Michael O’Neill and Kevin Walsh - were convicted by the non-jury Special Criminal Court
Special Criminal Court
The Special Criminal Court is a juryless criminal court in the Republic of Ireland which tries terrorist and organized crime cases. Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with wide-ranging powers when "the ordinary courts are inadequate to secure...
of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. McAuley had escaped from Brixton Prison in 1991 while awaiting prosecution over an IRA campaign in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and had jumped bail in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
two months before the shooting. O'Neill was released from prison on 15 May 2007 with Sheehy released on 4 February 2008. Walshe and McAuley were released on the 5th August 2009 after completing their full sentence. Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
had campaigned for their release under the Good Friday Agreement despite the Irish Government
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
's insistence that these prisoners were excluded during the negotiations for the treaty. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
accused the Irish government of "double standards" by not granting those responsible for the killing early release, as part of the Good Friday Agreement.
Detective Garda Jerry McCabe's widow Anne has been praised for the way she conducted herself since the shooting. In New York in 2006, she challenged Gerry Adams as to why his organisation was calling for the release of the men convicted of the killing. In 2000 she was presented with a Gold Scott Medal
Scott Medal
The Walter Scott Medal is a medal awarded annually for bravery to Garda Síochána police officers and firemen. It is not a state award, being at the gift of the commissioner, but the medals are awarded by the Minister for Justice. FDNY recipients are also awarded $500, donated by the Fire Foundation...
. The Scott Medal is the highest honour bestowed by the Republic of Ireland on a Garda who has shown exceptional courage and heroism risking their lives in their work as police officers.
Detective Garda Jerry McCabe Fellowship
An academic exchange programme in honour of the slain detective was established in 1996 at the John Jay College of Criminal JusticeJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a senior college of the City University of New York in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice and forensic focus in the United States. The college offers programs in Forensic Science and Forensic...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA. The purpose of the exchange is to promote the sharing of practices and technologies in policing and criminal justice between Ireland and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Detective Garda Jerry McCabe's son John was the first recipient of the fellowship in 1997.
See also
- Michael J. ReynoldsMichael J. ReynoldsMichael J. Reynolds , Garda Síochána 17673G and recipient of the Scott Medal, 1945-1975.-Incident at St. Anne's Park:A native of Kilconnell, Ballinasloe, Reynolds was one of a number of Gardaí who responded to an armed robbery at the Bank of Ireland, Killester, Dublin, on the afternoon of 11...
- Deaths of Garda officers (1980)Deaths of Garda officers (1980)Two officers of the Garda Síochána, the police force of the Ireland, were shot and killed on July 7 1980 by alleged members of the Irish National Liberation Army during a pursuit in the aftermath of a bank robbery. Occurring near Loughglynn, County Roscommon, the officers' deaths provoked a...
- Michael Noel CanavanMichael Noel CanavanMichael Noel Canavan , Garda Síochána 21578C and recipient of the Scott Medal, born 1958.-Background:Canavan was a native of Tuam, County Galway, and joined the force in 1978...
- Yvonne Burke (Garda)Yvonne Burke (Garda)Yvonne Burke, Garda Síochána and first female recipient of the Scott Medal, born 20 April 1970.-Incident at Cabra:Burke and her colleague, Garda Brady, were on mobile patrol on the Navan Road, Cabra, on 13 November 1993 when an alarm was raised at a local supermarket...
- Garda ar LárGarda ar LárGarda ar Lár is an Irish television series, the second season of which was broadcast on RTÉ One throughout January and February 2009. It examines incidents where members of the country's Garda Síochána lost their lives since the foundation of the state. Over thirty members of the force have lost...