Martin Donnellan
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Martin Donnellan,
Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...
Detective Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage from the Brit ...
17179D and recipient of the
Scott Medal The Walter Scott Medal for Valor is a medal awarded for acts of bravery by the Garda Síochána. It is not a state award, being in the gift of the Garda Commissioner. History The Garda medal was instituted at the behest of Colonel Walter Scott ...
, born 1948. Donnellan was born at
Ballymoe Ballymoe (historically ''Bellamoe'', from ) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. Ballymoe is situated on the western side of the River Suck that separates counties County Galway, Galway and County Roscommon, Roscommon. The N60 road (Irela ...
,
County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
, on 7 June 1948. He had been a
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
maker prior to joining the force.


Stillorgan bank raid

Donnellan was one of six Gardaí awarded the Scott Medal in recognition of their actions on 30 December 1980. Four heavily armed men robbed a bank at Stillorgan Shopping Centre,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, escaping to a
van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...
, driven by a fifth man, with £102,000. Off-duty Gardaí Keeley made an effort to note the van's registration but was fired upon. He returned fire. With most of south Dublin's mobile units in pursuit, the high-speed chase ''"ended dramatically at
Carrickmines Carrickmines () is an outer suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. The area, still semi-rural, was historically on the border of English control and featured a defensive construction, Carrickmines Castle, which became the subje ...
Cross."''
''"The raiders, realizing that their aged van was never going to outdistance the powerful Garda patrol car, stopped out of sight of the pursuing detectives aly and Curranand set up a hastily-prepared ambush. Their car was savagely raked with bullets and both men severely injured. The robbers then continued in their flight."''
Abandoning the van and hi-jacking a car, they made their way into the Dublin Mountains where they crashed the car. As they hijacked another car, they were discovered by Detective Doyle, who was joined by Donnellan and Brennan.
''"Realizing that the raiders could scarcely head back towards Dublin, the three detectives used their cars to block the narrow road. The robbers in their stolen
Datsun Datsun (, ) was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in Marc ...
appeared within seconds and stopped a few yards from the improvised roadblock. The three detectives took cover, Doyle pointing his pistol while Donnellan and Brennan pointed cupped hands to give the impression that they were also armed. Panic now seized the raiders. In a frenzied attempt to reverse out of the situation they slid into a drain and overturned. They then tried to escape on foot as the intrepid detectives closed in, Doyle firing first a warning shot over the raiders' heads and firing again when it seemed that fire might be returned. One raider was wounded and two others then gave up the struggle. The remaining two made good their escape."''
Donnellan and his colleague, Kieran Brennan, were awarded the Scott Medal at Templemore in 1982, sharing the ceremony with the widows of three Gardaí killed in action - John Morley, Henry Burns, and Seamus Quaid (see Deaths of Garda officers (1980). On his retirement he described the event as " .. chilling. It was stressful looking at those families. I remember in particular Henry Burns' kids were so small. It really brought it home to me. It was lovely to be honoured, but it was even better to be in the good health to receive it. It is a very thin line between life and death, and that's the one thing about the gardai, there is no group in the country that has paid as big a price."


Later career

While later working as a
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
superintendent, Donnellan led the investigation into the murder of 17-year-old Raonaid Murray in Glenageary (her killer has never been found) and worked on case of Annie McCarrick, who disappeared without trace in 1993. He aided the investigation into the murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 in Beirut. He retired in summer 2008.


See also

*
Yvonne Burke (Garda) Yvonne Burke (born 20 April 1970) was a Garda Síochána and the first female recipient of the Scott Medal. Incident at Cabra Burke and her colleague, Garda Brady, were on mobile patrol on the Navan Road, Cabra, on 13 November 1993 when an ala ...
* Brian Connaughton * Michael J. Reynolds * Joseph Scott *
Deaths of Henry Byrne and John Morley Henry Byrne and John Francis Morley, John Morley, two officers of the Garda Síochána, the police force of the Republic of Ireland, were murdered on 7 July 1980 by alleged members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). The off ...
(1980) *
Death of Jerry McCabe Detective Garda Jerry McCabe (22 November 1943 – 7 June 1996) was a member of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. McCabe was killed in Adare, County Limerick on 7 June 1996, by members of the Provisional IRA, during the ...
(1996)


External links

* http://www.herald.ie/opinion/bravery-honour-and-tragedy-of-a-career-spent-in-line-of-fire-1451775.html


References

* ''An Garda Síochána and the Scott Medal'', p. 105, Gerard O'Brien,
Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably ...
, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Martin Police officers from County Galway Garda Síochána officers Living people 1948 births Recipients of the Scott Medal