Search for history

Policing Genealogy Ireland History

Name:	P.J. Kerrigan	Reg No:	1A
Image:		Date Of Joining:	21 February 1922
Date of birth:	12 September 1892	Address:	County Mayo
Religion:	Roman Catholic	IRA Rank:	-
Rank In National Army:	-	RIC Rank:	Ex-RIC
Foreign Army Rank:	-	If In Cid Or Protection Corps:	-
Knowledge Of Irish Language:	-	Height:	-
Chest:	-	Remarks:	Dismissed
Keyword:	Garda Number One	Acknowledgements And Sources:	Picture from Irish Roots (https://www.ouririshheritage.org/content/archive/people/101_mayo_people/military-revolutionary-activists/pj_kerrigan)
Garda Rank at end of service:	-	Where Stationed-DISTRICT(Place):	-
Occupation Or Trade:	-	By Whom Recommended:	-
Link To Register:	https://digital.ucd.ie/view-media/ucdlib:53466/uv#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=3&z=-4427.8387%2C0%2C16989.6774%2C6160	Page Numbers:	1 and 2
Additional Images:	-
Further Notes:	Patrick Jospeh Kerrigan is considered to be the first Civic Guard to enlist. Son of Patrick (Postman) and Mary Ellen Fennerty. He temporarily left the RIC and joined the Irish Guards and was promoted to the rank of Corporal. He is believed to have worked as a physical training instructor. Married Molly Finnegan and had four children. He was dismissed after several months after striking a prisoner in custody. After leaving the Civic Guards, he joined the DMP (service number 12521), he played the clarinet with the DMP band. He resigned voluntarily from the force on 20 February 1926. He emigrated to Liverpool, Canada and then to United States, where he settled in New York and had another family. He died 15th March 1946 and was buried in St Agnes' Cemetery in Albany, New York. He was remembered by the Gardai and people of Westport in 2022 as part of the Garda Centenary events, where a plaque was unveiled at his homeplace and his families from Ireland and America got to meet for the first time.