Oranmore Heritage

Wednesday, 30th November at 7.30pm – Oranmore Heritage Winter Lecture Series continued with ‘Memories of the Congo’

A lecture entitled ‘Memories of the Congo’ was delivered by Walter Raftery BE at Oranmore Library on Wednesday, 30th November for Oranmore Heritage.  

The lecture, which was illustrated with slides, was the second in Oranmore Heritage’s Winter Lecture Series and Walter Raftery delivered an interesting and inspiring talk on his experiences with the Irish Army in the Congo.

Mr. Raftery’s talk dealt with the reasons for the Irish army’s mission, the logistical problems in travelling to Katanga, the province to which his battalion were deployed.  It also dealt with the day to day experiences of the Irish Army and their interaction with other nations’ troops, with some of the personalities in the government of the Congo and indeed with the natives of Katanga. Sadly there was some loss of life among the Irish troops and this too was discussed at length by Mr. Raftery.  It was a very interesting talk and in thanking Mr. Raftery on behalf of Oranmore Heritage, Vice Chairperson, John Grealy said that the peace-keeping work undertaken on behalf of the United Nations brought great credit to the Irish Army and to the Irish Nation and added that it was a great pity that the Irish public at large were not more aware of the army’s dedication to its peacekeeping missions.

A good crowd and a lively question and answer session followed the lecture.  The next lecture in Oranmore Heritage’s Winter Lecture Series will take place in January 2012.