PEARSE STREET COMMEMORATION
ALWAYS REMEMBERED A
The 85th anniversary of the deaths of three firefighters in 1936 was marked in a moving ceremony in October
commemoration ceremony honouring the three Dublin Fire Brigade firefighters who lost their lives at a fire on Pearse Street in 1936 was held at Glasnevin Cemetery on 5 October, the 85th anniversary of the tragic event. The families of the three firefighters were joined at the ceremony by retired and serving firefighters, with CFO Dennis Keeley paying tribute to Peter McArdle, Robert Malone and Thomas Nugent, whose deaths led to an inquiry that helped introduce steps to modernise the fire service in the city. Speaking to those assembled, CFO Keeley said: “It is a great honour to welcome you today as we remember the 85th anniversary of the three Dublin Fire Brigade firefighters who lost their lives fighting a fire on Pearse Street in 1936. “Organisations like ours look to the future and prepare for it but equally we are deeply aware of our heritage. We remember the legacy left to us from those who went before, those who built that tradition of excellence, of selfless service and devotion regardless of personal cost. “Our roots run deep in the history of this city and nowhere do they run deeper than here at these three graves. The last resting places of Dublin firefighters who gave their lives together on that awful night on the 5th of October 1936. On that night they responded to a fire at 134 Pearse Street, and while fighting that fire, were killed when the building collapsed after the fire caused an explosion of gas cylinders stored in the basement of that premises.
“In the aftermath of that disaster and their joint funerals, they were taken here to this historic place for burial, and here they lie. We come here today as we come here on other days, to remember them.” CFO Keeley also paid tribute to the late Anthony Behan, nephew of Robert Malone, historian and public speaker who wrote and gave talks on the Pearse Street disaster, and to retired D/O, historian and author Tom Geraghty, who was a driving force behind placing a memorial plaque for the three men at the location of the building on Pearse Street. “His research and writing on the fire have preserved the history of that night,” he told the crowd. “That history is our shared history, our heritage, part of our organisation’s culture, and this site of these men holds a special place in the story of Dublin Fire Brigade. We will remember them always.”
“OUR ROOTS RUN DEEP IN THE HISTORY OF THIS CITY AND NOWHERE DO THEY RUN DEEPER THAN HERE AT THESE THREE GRAVES”
40 FIRECALL WINTER Firecall Pearse Street-FINAL_JM.indd 40
02/12/2021 13:20
