PICTURES | Longford family recognised for a century of proud service in An Garda Síochána

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The Deely family recently celebrated 100 years of continuous service in An Garda Síochána.

Retired Garda Sergeant Sean Deely, son of Christopher Deely, formerly of Park Road, Longford, explained that there has been a Deely working with An Garda Síochána continuously since his late grandfather William Deely joined a century ago. READ MORE BELOW PHOTO

William, Garda number 11868, joined the Gardaí on April 13, 1923 and retired on September 17, 1962. Sean’s father Christopher, Garda number 10411F, joined on November 11, 1953 and retired on June 6, 1994. Sean Deely (21774C) joined on December 5, 1979 and retired on December 22, 2015. Sean’s daughter Aileen (31042B) joined on November 23, 2015 and is stationed in Mountjoy Garda Station.

The presentation of centenary medals and certificates to the family was made by Superintendent Seamus Boyle of Longford Garda Station at Keenan's Hotel in Tarmonbarry.

Christopher Deely and his late wife Angela are from Park Road, Longford and they had fourteen children, some residing in the USA, France, England, and Ireland.

Sean said the first half of the family were born in Monaghan while his father Christopher was stationed there, firstly in Scotstown and then Clontibret. He was appointed to the weights and measures section in 1969 and transferred to Longford where the rest of the family were born.

Christopher, who lives in Tarmonbarry, is 90 this month, and Seán remarked, “My mother, God rest her, and Dad did a great job rearing fourteen of us.”

Deely siblings
Liam lives in Newtownforbes and works locally. Sean, himself, lives in Ballyconnell. Marie lives in Norwich, England. Noel lives in France and manages a car parts company. Annette is co-owner of Keenans Hotel, Tarmonbarry and Adrian is a foreman in Dublin, Annette and Adrian are twins. Helen works in the HSE as a director. Martina is a Human Resource manager in Longford. Joe is manager of Brookside Golf Club in Cape Cod Massachusetts. Edel is a chef. Leo and Mick own and run lake shore plumbing in Chicago and Bertie also helps care for their dad at home. Dermott is the director of Philips Lighting in Ireland.

Sean served on the Cavan Monaghan border like his father who was sent there during The Troubles. He had spells in Galway and Store St and served in the detective branch in Harcourt Square and Phoenix Park, before returning to the Cavan Monaghan division.

He was Garda Sergeant in Carrick On Shannon and retired from Monaghan Garda Station in 2015 having served 36 years. He met his wife Bridie, who is from Ballyconnell, while first stationed along the border there in 1980. That is where the couple live now. A lot of Sean’s service was in surveillance work and he is now a licensed private investigator.

Reflecting on his career and the Deely family’s remarkable century of service, Sean said, “I suppose when one is young you look at what your father did to make a living and it was a good career choice as I was able to pay my way and raise a family. I remember when we were in Monaghan my mother would sometimes open the station for people who wanted forms etc when my dad was away on patrol. They were different times.

“I was delighted when Aileen joined the Gardai. Although it is more demanding on people now it is still a good job. This was not her first career choice as she has a masters in music from NUI. Like myself she sort of drifted into it and all of sudden you realise there's one hundred years service between us which is a rare thing.”

Coincidentally, on the same evening the Deely family were honoured for their distinguished service to An Garda Síochána, the Keenan family celebrated their mother Eileen's 97th birthday. Eileen was the original proprietor of Keenan's pub.