Monday marks the 90th anniversary of a tragedy in Dublin city, as three firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty.
On October 5th, 1936, Dublin Fire Brigade responded to a serious fire at the Exide Batteries premises on Pearse Street.
Fire safety laws were not what they are now, and the premises was located in the basement with housing above.
Believing that a family might still be trapped inside, firefighters entered the burning building. A series of explosions followed, and much of the building collapsed. Peter McArdle, Robert Malone and Thomas Nugent were buried beneath the ruins; their remains were recovered the following morning, after many hours of searching and the removal of some 30 tons of rubble.
RM Block
It remains the greatest loss of life suffered by Dublin Fire Brigade in a single incident.
Las Fallon, a retired firefighter and fire service historian, has advocated for a tribute for the men, and this will come to fruition with a commemorative plaque to be unveiled by Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Daryl Barron.
“The fire brigade got very little in the line of money, very little in the line of resources,” Fallon told The Irish Times. “In 1936, we paid the price for it when a fire started in 163 and 164 Pearse Street. There were tenement houses, but the basements were being used by the Exide battery factory. That was quite within the law at the time
“Exide batteries were producing batteries there, so there was highly flammable gas stored on the premises.”
[ Firemen killed in 1936 fire honouredOpens in new window ]
McArdle left a wife and seven children – his youngest daughter was born three months after his death. Malone, also married, was a veteran of the 1916 Rising, having served at Boland’s Mills. Nugent was engaged to be married.
The three men lay in state at City Hall before a civic funeral to Glasnevin Cemetery, and more than 80,000 people lined the streets of the city to pay their respects.
However, the fire brigade did not treat them with the same respect as their widows were forced to move out of accommodation designated for the service.
“I remember when I started looking into this back in the 80s, there were people who lived through the 1930s,” Fallon said. “And if you talk to Dubliners who remembered the time, they remembered two things. They remember the Eucharistic Congress and they remembered the Pearse Street funerals.”
A fourth firefighter, Tommie Potts, escaped. A renowned fiddle player, Fallon thinks his survivor’s guilt was evident in some of his melancholic tunes.
His nephew Seán Potts was a member of the famous Irish trad band The Chieftains.
There will be a commemorative service in Glasnevin Cemetery on Sunday before the plaque unveiling on Monday, with family members of the men set to attend.
They will include McArdle’s daughter, now 90, and a niece of Nugent, Cáit Kendall.
Kendall said her mother was very close to Nugent, who they called Gerard rather than his official name of Thomas.
His death left a heavy mark on the family, and she recalled how her grandfather learned of his son’s passing through the newspaper.
His fiance Maye, who subsequently married another man, remained close to the family, which she said “helped keep my uncle’s memory alive”.
While she never met him, she always felt close to him and is delighted that he will be honoured on Monday.
