A woman who witnessed the deaths of two Castlerea gardaí nearly 40 years ago says the killing of Detective Colm Horkan has “brought back horrible memories.”

Detective Garda John Morley and Garda Henry Byrne, both stationed at Castlerea, were killed while responding to a bank robbery in nearby Ballaghaderreen on July 7th 1980.

Loughglynn local Mildred Beirne was one of the first people to arrive on the scene at the time.

On The Pat Kenny Show, she said yesterday marked another “terrible day in Castlerea and the surrounding areas.”

“It was like as if I was pitched back 40 years ago to when I arrived on the scene,” she said.

“It was so much like that. The eeriness of it and the sadness of it and the shock – even after 40 years, we still haven’t got over it and we are still so upset every time we think of those fine men that lost their lives trying to protect us.”

Garda deaths

She said she was returning from a funeral in July 1980 years ago when she heard about a bank robbery and incident on a nearby road.

“We kept going to see could we help or do anything and we just simply walked into this situation,” she said. “It was like an accident or a crash.

“The car was there, the front windscreen was smashed and all the doors were open, the boot was open – you could see the stupid money that those two men were shot for just sitting there in the boot of the car.

“Henry Byrne was dead at the time and he was just lying there.

“He was still so warm and I said an Act of Contrition into his ear because I didn’t know whether anybody else had thought about that.

“He was still so warm and so alive but really and truly he was dead the minute the bullet hit him.”

"Best of friends"

Ms Beirne said she was “the best of friends” with Detective Morley and played badminton with him for years.

She described how he used to visit her home and put on his squad car sirens for her young children when he was leaving.

“He was such a wonderful man,” she said. “Such a wonderful family man and a great garda.

“I really didn’t know Henry, that was my first time to see him but I was privileged that I was there and I was able to say that last prayer into his ear.”

Beautiful place

She described the local area as a “lovely, calm and beautiful” place.

“There is nothing only goodness around and everybody helping everybody and then to think that this young man lost his life – another young garda looking after us all. It brought back horrible memories to us.”