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THE PRINCE OF WALES & THE ROME ESCAPE LINE

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During the recent visit to Killarney House & Gardens by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles met briefly with members of the Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Committee.

To mark the Royal Visit and the 75th Anniversary of the creation of the WW2 Rome Escape Line by Killarney native Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, the Memorial Society presented the Prince with a boxed first edition copy of Major Sam Derry’s book “The Rome Escape Line”.

As a brief background to the book’s story, Memorial Society Chairman Jerry O’Grady brought Prince Charles through an album of images of the main characters from the time and from Nazi occupied Rome. These included an April 1945 copy of the London Gazette announcement by his grandfather King George VI, that Monsignor Hugh J O’Flaherty was being awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire), for his services to the Forces in Italy.

Jerry O’Grady said, “The Prince was delighted to accept this special edition of Sam Derry’s book and had a particular interest in the involvement of Sir D’Arcy Osborne, the then British Ambassador to the Holy See, saying that he had been a friend of his mother, Queen Elizabeth. He was also aware of the part played in this incredible story by Gestapo Chief Col. Herbert Kappler and quickly identified his image within the album”.

Jerry O’Grady added, “We were hoping that it might have been possible for the Prince and Duchess to pay a short visit to the nearby Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial, but Garda security considerations ruled this out.  However, we did show him some images of the Memorial and we were delighted to have had the opportunity to share our story with Prince Charles and introduce him to the Monsignor’s niece Pearl Dineen” 

Plans are being prepared to hold a special commemoration on June 4th, 2019 to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Rome and the effective winding up of The Rome Escape Line. 

Further Information: oflahertysociety2008@gmail.com 

Photos Courtesy Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Society.

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Massive Park Road housing development given green light

A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road. The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near […]

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A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road.

The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near An Post’s sorting office, will include a variety of properties from five-bed houses to single apartments, along with a crèche and over 500 car spaces and over 300 bike spaces.

The development has been welcomed by local councillor Martin Grady.

“Killarney has a massive housing shortage so this is very positive. It will retain young families in the area, stimulating economic growth,” he said. “After 17 years of different planning applications it’s finally coming to fruition.”

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Ballydribeen residents living in fear due to anti-social behaviour

Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate. Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits […]

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Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate.

Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits in the last week.

Local councillor Martin Grady told the Killarney Advertiser that residents are “living in fear” as a result of very serious incidents in the last week alone.

One house in the estate was badly damaged when fire crackers were placed inside a letter box.

Another house had its windows smashed in over the weekend.

“It’s a major problem,” added Grady after meeting residents there earlier this week.

One of the most serious incidents occurred on Tuesday night.

A passing motorists had rocks thrown at his car while driving along the bypass whch is adjacent to the estate.
Taking to social media, local primary-school teacher Pádraig O’Sullivan posted:

“Travelling home tonight, at 11.05pm on the Killarney side of the bypass our car was hit by a rock – not a pebble – from the Ballydribben side , which hit the passenger door.

“It was centimetres away from hitting the window where my father, who is visually impaired, was sitting.

“This could have caused catastrophic permanent injury to him.

“The Killarney Garda were on the scene within three minutes.

“They can’t be patrolling the bypass all night.

“It comes down to parenting. You should know where your children are at this hour and be able to teach them what’s funny and what ruin a person’s life or cause a fatal crash.“

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