Mayo man plays down his role in mountbatten murder investigation

THE visit today by Prince Charles to Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, where his granduncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979 has brought memories flooding back for a retired Mayo Garda Sergeant, writes Tom Shiel.

Seamus Lohan from Gallows Hill, Castlebar, was a young garda at the time of the murder and his alertness resulted in the arrest of Thomas McMahon, the only person ever convicted in relation to the murder of Mountbatten and three others.

Mr. Lohan, subsequently promoted to the rank of Sergeant and now retired and living in Shrule, stopped a vehicle while on checkpoint duty in Granard, Co. Longford, in the hours before the explosion which ripped apart Mountbatten’s pleasure boat.

McMahon, a front seat passenger, and the driver were taken to the local garda station as it was suspected that their vehicle had been stolen. While detained, news came through of the explosion at Mullaghmore which claimed the lives of Lord Mountbatten, his grandson, 14-year-old Nicholas Knatchbull, and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell, a local boathand. The dowager Lady Brabourne (82), who was also on the boat, died from her injuries 24 hours later.

Seamus Lohan played down his role in bringing Thomas McMahon to justice when he was contacted by The Connaught Telegraph.

“It was all about luck, being in the right place at the right time,” he claimed modestly.

The retired officer featured in an RTÉ documentary screened on Sunday night, Remembering Mullaghmore, which was compiled specially by Tommie Gorman in light of Prince Charles’s visit to the place where his granduncle was murdered.

Mr. Lohan told his interviewer: “I became suspicious when I noticed that the driver’s hands were shaking. He was unable to get his key into the lock of the boot. I had to open the boot myself.”

Thomas McMahon was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1979. He was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.