Articles

By PRO IUNVA This article recalls the service of the first DF chaplain who deployed on overseas service with the United Nations in Jul 1960. Fr Cyril Patrick Crean was known as Fr Paddy and he was ordained in Rome in 1933. He worked in Harold’s Cross in Dublin before he joined the British Army…

By PRO IUNVAWhen the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was being established in Mar 1978, the Force HQ was set up in Naqoura as a “temporary” HQ, some UN documents refer to it as a Tactical HQ. The military advice at the time was to locate the HQ in the Lebanese Armed Forces barracks…

From PRO IUNVAAn Overview of the Battle of At Tiri 6 – 12 Apr 1980. IntroductionThis article is intended as general background information on 46 Inf Bn operations during the week from Easter Sunday 6 Apr 1980. The challenges, tension and the dangers faced by the Bn were unprecedented; this was the first time that…

From PRO IUNVA Mass Murder of UN Peacekeepers in the Congo in April 1961. Sixty one years ago, in Apr 1961, the UN suffered heavy casualties in a murderous rampage by members of the Armed Forces of the Central Congolese Government. On 28 April 1961, ONUC suffered its highest number of fatalities in single event…

The flag which so many Irish peacekeepers have proudly served under and the beret which they wore. By George Kerton PRO IUNVA In Apr 1945, near the end of World War II, fifty Allied nations gathered in San Francisco and this conference led to the establishment of the United Nations in Oct 1945. Delegates wore…

From IUNVA PROBorn: January 8th, 1944 Died: February 13th, 2022 Pearse McCorley, who has died aged 77, had a long and distinguished career in the Cavalry Corps, during which he participated in several overseas tours of duty, serving with peace keeping forces of the United Nations. Later, he worked with the Organisation for Security and…

The Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) was formed at a meeting on the 10th Feb 1990 when a group of personnel led by Maj Gen Vincent Savino (Retd) and currently President of (IUNVA) identified a need to look after Veterans and their families who had fallen on hard times and where in some instances…

In this article we remember the tragic events of sixty one years ago in Nov 1960, when Ireland suffered the highest toll on peacekeeping operations when nine men were killed by Baluba tribesmen near a bridge on the River Luweyeye on a dirt road approximately 23 Km from Niemba village in the northeast of Katanga…

In this article we look at one incident that happened sixty years ago in the Congo in Nov 1961 when Italy suffered thirteen casualties in a mass murder in what has been called the Kindu Massacre. This event shows that UN peacekeepers who might not be considered to be on the frontline were open to…

60TH Anniversary of the deaths of Lt Patrick Riordan and Pte Andrew Wickham on 16 Dec 1961 during the Battle of the Tunnel. The is the third and final article to cover the deaths in combat of 36 Inf Bn personnel in Elisabethville in Dec 1961.  Compiled by George Kerton PRO IUNVA. Operation Unokat commenced…