Tributes to doctor who treated the injured after 1979 bombing that killed Lord Louis Mountbatten

Warm tributes have been paid to the Sligo doctor who treated the injured after the IRA bombing in Mullaghmore that killed Lord Louis Mountbatten and three others in August 1979.

Dr Tony Heenan, Ballincar, died on September 2 and amongst those in attendance at his funeral at St.
Joseph’s Church, Ballytivnan, Sligo, was survivor Timothy Knatchbull whose twin brother, Nicholas, was killed in the bombing of Lord Mountbatten’s boat as it sailed out of the harbour. The twins were aged 14 at the time.

Dr Heenan was the on-duty anaesthetist at Sligo General Hospital when the dead and critically wounded were rushed there. Three people survived the bombing, Timothy Knatchbull, Lord Mountbatten’s eldest daughter, Patricia and her husband John Knatchbull.

Also killed in the bombing were Paul Maxwell, a 15-year-old from Enniskillen who was working as a crew member on the boat and The Dowager Lady Brabourne, Lord Mountbatten’s daughter’s mother-in-law.

Rev Alan Mitchell told The Sligo Champion that Dr Heenan and others, had “worked night and day to save people. It was one of those miraculous events,” he said noting there hadn’t been greater loss of life.

Mr Knatchbull, who lives in England, suffered serious injuries as a result of the bombing including a torn ear, punctured lung, hundreds of shrapnel wounds. He was also blinded in one eye, although his sight was later partially restored.

In 2009, 30 years after the tragedy, Mr Knatchbull published his bestselling memoir – ‘From a Clear Blue Sky: Surviving the Mountbatten Bomb’.

For his tireless work in the wake of the tragedy, Rev Mitchell noted that Dr Heenan was congratulated by both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.

Rev Mitchell recalled the sense of despair in the Mullaghmore in the days, weeks and years that followed noting the town became “dead and lifeless.”

He recalled himself and others felt the need to inject some life and “take away the guilty feeling” that loomed over the village in those years.

Following the success of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland in 2011 it was decided to explore the possibility of organising a royal visit to Sligo with Rev Mitchell recalling the then President of Sligo Chamber of Commerce, Gerry Moore writing to Prince Charles and which was said to have played a significant role in paving the path for the subsequent visit of Charles and his wife Camilla in 2015.

Recalling the historic visit in May 2015. Rev Mitchell said it was “The only day in May that didn’t rain,” adding the peace and reconciliation service at St Columba’s Church in Drumcliffe was a poignant event.

Rev Mitchell wrote to Buckingham Palace to inform the royal family of the impact the visit in 2015 had adding, “A few months later I had a lovely letter back from King Charles in which he sent his greetings to the congregation”

Rev Mitchell is hoping for another British royal visit to Sligo. “We want to keep up the contact and let them know we want them back.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme