Following on in the serial of the History of 21 Bn 1959-1984 by Brian Hayden we have the story of C Coy. I hope to expand on C Coy’s achievements in the various All-Army shooting competitions in a future pictorial post.
C Coy. H.Q. is located on the Murragh in Wicklow Town. Other centres in the Coy. are at Arklow, Glenmalure and Rathdrum. C Coy. was originally the South Wicklow Bn. before integration which was under the command of Comdt. Greg Doyle from Rathdrum.
On integration, Comdt. Doyle took over command of C Coy. and was assisted by well known Officers such as Comdt. Harry Jordan, Capt. R. Conroy, Capt. D. Sinnott, Lts. M. O’Hara and B. Pyne and the famous all round athlete Lt. Mick Quinn. Michael died in the prime of his life (1977) and was buried in Arklow by his military comrades.
This Coy. produced great soldiers and in particular great marksmen. They had the distinction of winning the Rifle and L.M.G. team and individual events in the All Army F.C.A. shoots at the Curragh on several occasions.
Comdt. Greg Doyle retired in 1965 after long and dedicated service in the force where he earned the respect and admiration of all ranks under his command. Greg died in May of this year. His death came as a great shock to all his comrades who laid him to rest in the graveyard outside the lovely village of Rathdrum. R.I. P.
In 1974 Lt. Michael Doyle from Rathnew was killed in a car accident outside Newtownmountkennedy. He was then the junior officer of the Bn. and his death was a shock to all. Lt. Pat Ferguson was Officer I/C of the firing party when Michael was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard at Rathnew.
The Coy. Commander is Ritchie Conroy and his 2 I/C is Lt. P. Ferguson. The Platoon Commanders are Lt. B. Flynn, Lt. J. Burke and Lt. B. Doyle, who is a younger brother of the late Lt. Michael Doyle.
Area Commander for South Wicklow is Comdt. Harry Jordan from Wicklow Town,
The present Coy. Sgt. is the well liked Pascal Foley from Arklow. Well known N.C.O.’s such as C/S L. Byrne, Sgt. Joe Carley, Sgt. John Dunne, Sgt. Hughie Loughlin, Sgt. Owen Byrne, Cpl. Jim Doyle, Cpl. Wolahan and Cpl. Hollingsworth are remembered for their great loyalty to the Force. Other NCO’s such as C.Q.M.S. T. Doyle, Sgts. T.P. Brady, J. German, B. Holt, T. & E. Fox, L. Quinn and a lot of dedicated Cpis, continue the good work for C Coy.
We must not forget the great Rifle teams from ‘C’ Coy. who won all major events, including the greatest which of course is the All Army F.C.A. Shoot. ‘C’ Coy. won this event under the command of Capt. H. Jordan and his then 2 I/C Lt. R. Conroy.
In 1973 they captured their first great win which was the rifle (.303) competition.
The team captain on that day was a young 2/Lt. W. O’Brien from Arklow. C/S P. Foley from Arklow, Sgt. B. Flynn from Wicklow town, Ptes. J. Parsons from Rathdrum, J. McGrath from Rathdrum, P. Halpin from Arklow and the sub was Pte. Jim Nolan from Glenmalure.
Again in 1974, C Coy. took the laurels in the rifle event. The team captain on that occasion was Lt. Richie Conroy from Wicklow town and the other members were the same as in 1973 with the exception of Pte. Jim Nolan who was replaced by Pte. Russell from Arklow.
1978 was another good year for the Bn. as the L.M.G. team from C Coy won the All Army F.C.A. Shoot. The team, under the command of the newly appointed Coy. Commander Capt. R. Conroy, was Cpl. Murphy, Cpl. Doyle and Pte. J. Nolan from Glenmalure.
Pte. Nolan won the first individual place on that great day at the Curragh.
In 1983 C Coy again won the All Army L.M.G. Shoot at the Curragh. The team on that great day was Ptes. J. Nolan, H. Kavanagh and Cpl. G. Doyle. Cpl. Doyle took second invididual prize for the Bn. with a very high score.
Lt. W. O’Brien resigned in 1975 after a short, but exciting career with the Force.