Thomas Francis O'Halloran (1918 - 1983)

Born 18 Jan 1918 in Lock Gates, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland

Ancestors

Died 15 Oct 1983 at age 65 in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland

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Biography

Thomas was born in 1918. He was the son of Richard O'Halloran and Babe Lawlor. He passed away in 1983.

Thomas Francis O'Halloran
Tomo was born on the 19th of January 1918 at "the Lock Gates," Tralee.^[1] He married Norrie O'Connor, daughter of the famous Bill Q O’Connor founder of the “W.H. O’Connor Ltd” of Castleisland. Tom served in the Irish Guards Regiment of the British Army. He was a member of the First Battalion Irish Guards and in 1939 received the General Service Medal and clasp for “Palestine.” In WW2 he was wounded in Narvik, Norway. Later the Irish Guards defended Boulogne, allowing the evacuation of the Expeditionary Force (BEF). The regiment were the last to leave, losing many casualties holding off the German advance, before they were evacuated themselves. ^[2] Tom returned to Ballyheigue and opened a shop there. It was known as “Tomo’s” and it was there that we all went to buy ice-cream in the warm summer days of our childhood. Little did we know what action and appalling suffering that our tall smiling cousin must have seen a few years before. His regiment had lost 700 men and 1,500 were wounded during the Second World War. Tomo also worked as inspector of buses. In 1956 Tomo and his wife went to Australia. He passed away in Tralee on the 15th of October 1983.^[3]

Their son:

• Rory O'Halloran

Sources

1. ↑ Civil Register. Group Registration1572619, Reg. Area Tralee
2. ↑ Thanks to Richard O’Halloran for this and other information. Richard points out that Tomo had an uncle, also called Thomas Francis O’Halloran who served in the British Merchant Navy in the Atlantic shipping routes as a wireless operator during WW1. He may indeed have inspired his nephew Tom in his choice of career.
3. ↑ Kerry County Council Record of Burials, Rath Cemetery, Tralee Old Rath Cemetery

• Civil Register of Birth, Group Reg ID 1572619, Area Tralee