Private Ciara Shanahan, Pte Dylan Geraghty and Cpl Daniel Padden describe their experience during the attack on Fr Paul Murphy
Private Ciara Shanahan was not supposed to be on sentry duty at Renmore Barracks on the evening of August 15th, 2024 but she had agreed to cover a friend’s shift.
The young soldier did not mind too much. An unexciting evening awaited her but the sun was shining and she enjoyed chatting with the locals and tourists who passed by the entrance of the barracks in the centre of Galway city.
As dusk approached and the crowds thinned, she noticed a young man near the entrance. Shanahan paid little attention, thinking he might be a Deliveroo worker bringing food to the barracks.
A few minutes later, at about 10.45pm, she spotted the car of Army Chaplain Father Paul Murphy approaching the entrance. He was returning from swimming, having signed up for a 100-day fitness challenge.
The private was in the process of closing the gate of the barracks and expected the priest to pull up and roll down his window for a chat, as he usually did.
Before this could happen, the young man from earlier approached the car and asked to speak to Murphy.
“That sparked a bit of confusion,” recalled Shanahan.
The young man asked Murphy if he could have a word with him and the priest rolled down his window.
It was then he lunged at the priest with a large hunting knife, inflicting serious injuries to both of his arms and puncturing the car’s metal roof.
“Thankfully, you pressed the accelerator and rammed through the gates,” the private recalled on Monday, as she sat beside Murphy in Renmore, two years after the incident.
Those involved in the incident described the experience for the first time publicly this week, during interviews with The Irish Times.
The man was carried in by the car and continued slashing at the victim.
Shanahan called for help and shouted at the attacker to stop.
She was entirely unarmed. Video footage during the later trial showed her picking up a stone and throwing it at the male in an effort to distract him.
However, the assailant was entirely focused on attempting to kill the priest.
[ Army chaplain who forgave attacker awarded distinguished service medalOpens in new window ]
In a small building to the left of the gate was 19-year-old Private Dylan Geraghty.
“To me it was just another guard duty. You’re just trying to get through the day,” he recalled of the evening to that point.
He saw Murphy’s car crash through the gate and ran to inform the guard commander Corporal Daniel Padden.
Both soldiers exited the building and went to inspect the scene.
By this stage, the car had rolled to a stop beside the memorial inside the barracks gate and the attacker was continuing to slash at the priest.
Armed with their Steyr rifles, Geraghty and Padden approached the car from the back to ensure that if they did have to open fire, they would not be shooting into the car.
Both men quickly went through the graduated use of force rules used by the Defence Forces in their head.
First, they issued verbal warnings, telling the attacker to drop the weapon. He paid no attention.
Padden fired two warning shots from his rifle and Geraghty fired another three. Again, the attacker failed to stop.
The next and last step in the rules of engagement was shooting the young male.
“I thought: ‘Right, we’re going to have to use lethal force to stop the attack,'” Geraghty said.
The soldiers aimed their rifles at the attacker.
“Then, just at the last second, a thought popped into my head,” Geraghty recalled.
He realised that, despite the men’s verbal warnings and gunshots, the attacker had not looked in their direction once, meaning he had no idea where they were positioned.
“I was outside his peripheral vision. So I thought I could get behind him and he wouldn’t even know I was there.”
“Hold off for a second, I’m going in,” he told Padden before slinging his rifle over his shoulder, creeping up behind the attacker and pulling him off the priest.
“It was a matter of seconds. I’m not 100 per cent sure on the exact timeline,” the private said.
“I was thinking I have to neutralise the situation in the least lethal way possible.”
[ ‘Young people are at Mass here every night’: Chaplain stabbed at barracks on military faithOpens in new window ]
Geraghty brought the attacker to the ground and secured him while Ciara Shanahan and the barracks orderly sergeant administered first aid to the priest.
The assailant was disarmed and no longer acting aggressively. But the soldiers were worried the backpack he was wearing may have contained an explosive device.
“It had to be checked whether we thought so or not. You have to be thorough.” Padden said.
They opened the bag and found it was empty.
Meanwhile Murphy, a former first aid trainer with the Order of Malta, was bleeding heavily.
“There was tonnes of blood,” the military chaplain recalled. But he was able to remain conscious and even give instructions for his treatment
Shanahan, who had recently completed a first aid course, began to bandage the wounds.
“I know a small bit so I was able to keep my composure and carry on,” she said.
None of the soldiers had time to process what happened. Armed gardaí, military police and medical staff rushed to the scene while Murphy was rushed to hospital.
“You’re getting questioned time and time again. So you don’t really have that time to ask: ‘What just happened?’ You need to relay information”, said Shanahan.
Even after that, the sentries had to finish their shifts.
“The barracks had to be protected,” said Padden.
Along with the professionalism and skill of the soldiers, several factors converged that night to ensure there was no loss of life.
Murphy prefers to call these “blessings” rather than luck.
Firstly, “for some reason”, his car window rolled only part way down when the assailant approached his car, offering Murphy a partial shield during the attack.
The padre was also driving a newly purchased car with an automatic transmission. This allowed him to floor the accelerator and move the car forward, even while he was being attacked.
Lastly, the gate was not fully locked, meaning he was able to smash the car through and interrupt the attack. This allowed him to push the attacker back, first with the car door and then with his feet.
For the priest, however, the biggest blessing was that it was him, and not another soldier, who was attacked.
“Because it would probably have been going your way,” he said, looking at Shanahan.
“And I’m so glad the lads didn’t shoot him, for their sake as well as his sake,” the priest added.
The attacker was a 16-year-old Irish boy who had been radicalised by extremist Islamic content. He cannot be identified because of his age.
He was subsequently charged with attempted murder. A court heard an Islamic State flag and a notebook with writing and graphic sketches depicting beheadings were found in his room.
Security officials recorded it as the first Jihadi terrorist attack in the State.
The boy, who had converted to Islam a year before the attack was jailed for eight years last May. Before he was led away, Murphy embraced the teen and told him he forgave him.
Last month, Murphy, Shanahan, Geraghty and Padden were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for their actions.
“Their actions exemplify the very highest standards of Óglaigh na hÉireann. In a moment of extreme danger, they acted decisively, selflessly and with complete regard for the protection of life,” said Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lt Gen Rossa Mulcahy.
For Geraghty, the incident shows Ireland faces the same threats as other EU countries, despite its military neutrality.
“There are enemies of the State out there and seek to do damage to this country. We have to be vigilant for that,” he said.
The radicalisation of young people into extremism is something “we have seen a lot of in Britain – God forbid it becomes a common occurrence here,” he said.
Murphy said more vigilance was needed about the radicalisation of young people in Ireland.
“There’s still this misconception out there that this was a foreigner who came into our country because of open borders or whatever and brought this with him. That’s not the case,” the military chaplain said.
“Parents in Ireland need to be aware of what their child is doing in his room.”
