Hero soldiers honoured in Killeagh as community prays for Shane and Seán

“Tonight is about hope,” Fr Tim Hazelwood, parish priest of Killeagh, told a vigil in St John the Baptist Church on Thursday night, as several hundred people turned out in freezing temperatures to pray for the recovery of Trooper Shane Kearney.

22-year-old Killeagh native Trooper Kearney was seriously injured in the Lebanon on Wednesday night, in an incident in which another Irish soldier was killed.

The soldier who died has been named as 24-year-old Private Seán Rooney, a native of Newtowncunningham in Co Donegal, who had grown up in Dundalk, Co Louth.

The fatal incident occurred in Al-Aqbieh, a village just south of Beirut, around 11.15pm local time (9.15pm Irish time), when a vehicle carrying four UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) personnel was attacked.

As Trooper Kearney remained in a serious condition after surgery in a UN-managed hospital in Hammoud on Thursday night, his fellow parishioners filled the local church to pray for his recovery, and to pray for the repose of Private Rooney.

Fr Hazelwood welcomed the Kearney family to the church, and Trooper Kearney’s father, Paudie, lit a candle of hope for Shane.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who is in Europe, was represented at the service by his aide de camp, Commandant Claire Mortimer, and minister of state Mary Butler represented the Government.

The Defence Forces were strongly represented in the church, with officers and NCOs from Collins’s Barracks in attendance, and several of Trooper Kearney’s colleagues lit candles for his recovery.

Fr Hazelwood welcomed to the church Trooper Kearney’s comrades from the local GAA club, with which he had played hurling, and members of the local community who turned out in the hundreds to show solidarity with Trooper Kearney’s family, his parents Paudie and Phyll, and his sister Amy.

Fr Hazelwood said the purpose of Thursday night’s service was to offer prayers for Trooper Kearney’s recovery, and to remind the congregation that God was with them on every step of their journey.

“Especially when things are tough and we need help, God is by our side, and that is our prayer for Shane this evening,” Fr Hazelwood told the packed church.

Before the vigil, Eddie McCarthy of the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel told The Echo he and several of his comrades had come to Killeagh out of respect for Private Rooney and to show support for Trooper Kearney and his family.

“Any time anyone in the service is killed, at home or abroad, everyone who has served feels it, that’s an inherent part of service life,” Mr McCarthy said.

“We’re all well-retired but we still understand the pain of families and comrades, so we’re here tonight to say a few prayers for the two lads, to pray for Seán, and to pray that Shane gets better.” Ann Marie Murphy taught Trooper Kearney in St Colman’s Community College in Midleton.

“Shane is a lovely person, he was a hard-working student, and we’re all in the school absolutely gutted at what’s happened to him, and his family, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time,” she said.

Trish Fleming, a friend of the Kearney family, said the people of the village were in shock, and had wanted to show their support.

“Shane is just a beautiful boy, from a beautiful family, I’m friends with his mother, I worked with her for years, we’re all just praying for Shane to recover,” Ms Fleming said.

Trooper Kearney joined the Defence Forces in October 2018 and his home unit is 1 Cavalry Squadron in Collins Barracks Cork. He had previously served overseas with the 117 Infantry Battalion.