Michael J. Reynolds , Garda Síochána

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 :...

 17673G and recipient of the 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...

, 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

Bank of Ireland

The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...

, Killester

Killester

Killester is a small, largely residential suburb of Dublin and lies on the Northside of the city.-Location and access:Killester is located between Clontarf, Donnycarney, Raheny and Artane, and it falls within the postal districts of Dublin 3 or 5. St. Anne's Park lies just beyond Killester on the...

, Dublin, on the afternoon of 11 September 1975. The raiders made off with £7,000 in a getaway car, narrowly avoiding a collision with a car driven by off-duty Reynolds, who had in his car his wife and two-year old daughter.

"Believing the car to have been stolen, Reynolds went in pursuit, the chase eventually reaching speeds of sixty miles per house through a maze of Dublin suburbs. The four raiders abandoned the car at St. Anne's Park, Raheny

Raheny

Raheny is a northern suburb of Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. It is an old area, centred around an old village, and is referenced back to 570 AD but after years of light settlement, with a main village and a coastal hamlet, grew rapidly in the 20th century, and is now a mid-density...

, and attempted to continue their flight on foot still hotly pursued by Garda Reynolds who had driven into the Park almost immediately behind them. Reynolds, who was unarmed, seized and dragged to the ground the nearest of the robbers who, burdened with their loot, were now beginning to tire. On seeing their comrade in Reynold's hands one of the robbers called in vain for the Garda to release the man, and, when he did not do so, the robber shot Reynolds in the head."

Aftermath

Garda Reynolds died in hospital under two hours later. Two of the raiders, initially sentenced to death, were sentenced to life.

Vera Reynolds, his widow, accepted her husband's Scott Gold Medal at Templemore

Templemore

Templemore is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the Roman Catholic parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea....

 on 16 July 1983.

See also

• 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...
  
  
• Jerry McCabe
  Jerry McCabe
  Detective Garda Jerry McCabe 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.-Early...
  
  
• Michael Noel Canavan
  Michael Noel Canavan
  Michael 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 Lár
  Garda ar Lár
  Garda 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...
  
  

Reference

• An Garda Síochána and the Scott Medal, p. 175, Gerard O'Brien, Four Courts Press
  Four Courts Press
  Four Courts Press is an Irish academic publishing house.It was founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, a managing director at the Irish Academic Press and a member of Opus Dei. Its early publications were primarily theological, notably the English translation of the Navarre Bible...
  
  , 2008. ISBN 978 1 84682 124 0