Athlone brigade marks inauguration of President Catherine Connolly
An Athlone brigade marked the inauguration of Ireland’s 10th President Catherine Connolly on Tuesday, November 11.
The 21-gun salute, fired by members of the 2 Brigade Artillery Regiment based at Custume Barracks, Athlone, marked the moment President Connolly signed the official document assuming her role as Uachtarán na hÉireann and Supreme Commander of Ireland’s Defence Forces.
While the inauguration ceremony took place at Dublin Castle, the guns were positioned at Collins Barracks, where the artillery crews stood ready under strict ceremonial discipline.
Overseeing the operation were Lt Col Niall Verling, Officer Commanding, and RSM Jacko McNamee, with Comdt Emmet Gallagher, Battery Commander, and Bty Sgt Paddy Clarke directing the gun battery.
RQMS Oliver Mahedy and BQMS Jason Rathigan provided logistical coordination.
Hidden among the dignitaries at Dublin Castle, Lt Andy Grey served as the Observation Post Officer, awaiting the precise moment to give the signal to fire.
When the word came, exactly as President Connolly’s pen signed the paper, the command rang out across Collins Barracks.
“Fire!” ordered Comdt Gallagher. “Twenty-one rounds, Battery Right, Fire!”
Moments later, the first gun from ‘A Sub’ Detachment roared to life, a tradition dating back to 1938, when the first presidential inauguration of Douglas Hyde was marked by the same salute. The sound of the guns rolled across the River Liffey, the air thick with the smell of cordite, a symbolic welcome for Ireland’s new head of state.
For the soldiers of the 2 Brigade Artillery Regiment, the moment was brief but steeped in honour and precision. As the final round echoed away, the crews swiftly secured and hitched their guns.
Meanwhile the Gun Battery hitched up their guns, and while for a short time, the Defence Forces were front and centre, and all who were involved drifted away, like the sound and smoke of the guns, into the back ground, to whatever the next mission awaits them, at home and overseas, the silent sentinels and servants of the state.