Yesterday, September 20th 2026, marked fifty years since three men sadly lost their lives in a plane crash in the Galtee Mountains. A gathering at the aircraft monument on the Black Road remembered Jimmy Byrne, Tom Gannon and Dick O’Reilly, whose names remain closely connected with this place.
On Monday, September 20th 1976, the three men were returning to Abbeyshrule, County Longford, after visiting an airstrip at Kilbrittain in County Cork. All were founding members of Abbeyshrule Aero Club and shared a love of flying. Mr Tom Gannon, a solicitor aged 40, was piloting the aircraft. With him were Mr Jimmy Byrne, a farmer aged 56, and Mr Dick O’Reilly, a garage proprietor aged 63. Their journey ended tragically on the southern slopes of the Galtees, above Glengarra Wood, Cullenagh, County Tipperary.
(Pic: Courtesy of Mr Jimmy Barry).
The aircraft was described as a single-engine, French-built Morane which crashed in thick cloud. Mr Jimmy Byrne had converted part of his farmland into an airfield, reflecting the practical commitment behind the men’s enthusiasm for aviation.
When the aircraft failed to reach its destination, an Air Corps helicopter searched the intended route and located the wreckage. There was no dedicated mountain rescue service in Co. Tipperary at the time, and the knowledge of local hill walkers proved vital in recovery.
The men’s bodies were recovered the following morning in an operation involving Gardaí, the Defence Forces, Civil Defence, relatives, members of Tipperary Adventure Sports Club and local volunteers. The tragedy helped prompt the development of formal mountain rescue structures in the South East in 1977, a lasting legacy associated with the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association, SEMRA.
In 2006, on the thirtieth anniversary, a memorial made from Longford stone was erected beside the Black Road near Skeheenarinky, a townland in south-west Co. Tipperary. Shaped like an aircraft’s tail, it was unveiled by sons of the three men. Its presence has helped maintain a connection between their families, the Abbeyshrule community and those who came to their aid in the Galtees.
Fifty years later, the monument remains a place to pause and remember three lives, the families who mourned them, and the people who answered the call for help.
Remembering Jimmy Byrne, Tom Gannon and Dick O’Reilly. May they rest in peace.
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