Rathfarnham and Ballyroan Historical Society present this lecture with Martin O’Dwyer, a former officer with the Defence Forces. O'Dwyer will take us through Ireland’s peacekeeping mission in the Congo and how his neighbourhood rallied to support the family of close neighbour and friend, Commandant Pat Quinlan, Commanding Officer of the Irish troops in Jadotville.
Martin O’Dwyer served as an officer in the Defence Forces for 20 years. Following a second career in the private sector he has now returned to matters military. He currently provides a range of independent military analysis for a number of media outlets such as Tuairsic.ie, an online Irish language daily newspaper, as well as Comhar, a monthly Irish language news and literary publication. He is a regular contributor to TG4, RnaG, Raidió na Life and Irish language programmes on RTÉ.
Martin grew up in a neighbourhood of many military families in Athlone. One of his earliest memories is of his father going to the Congo. The Siege of Jadotville is the largest single military engagement of Irish troops since Independence.
