Wreaths laid during Athlone Armistice Day ceremony

Rain fell heavily during the annual Armistice Day ceremony which took place recently at Cornamagh Cemetery, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the Athlone ex-military men who laid three wreaths at the Drummer Flynn monument.

The ceremony has taken place at the Athlone graveyard since 2008, when the monument was placed there by Athlone Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women.

Athlone ONE (Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel) changed its name almost two years ago, to the Paddy Kelly Athlone branch of ONE, named in honour of the Custume Barracks soldier who was killed while aiding the civil powers in Derrada Woods, Ballinamore during the rescue of the kidnapped supermarket boss Don Tidey in 1983.

“I was very happy at the time to suggest Paddy Kelly’s name for our branch and another Moate man, Pat Claffey proposed it and it was seconded and passed,” said Terry Casey, chairman of the Paddy Kelly Athlone Branch, ONE. “The re-naming of our branch was a mark of respect and for the high esteem that Paddy was held in by all his comrades.”

The Athlone branch, on November 11 each year, honours Armistice Day (the day that World War One ended) by placing a wreath on the Drummer Flynn monument.

Drummer Thomas Flynn was 18 years old when he became an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, making him one of the youngest recipients of the medal.

He had been a drummer in the 64th Regiment of Foot (later the North Staffordshire Regiment), an infantry regiment, in 1857 in India.

He was a native of Athlone and died and was buried in the cemetery in 1892, and his monument is situated in the centre of the grounds.