Mullingar Arts Centre planning Siege of Jadotville theatre work

A new multimedia theatre work by writer and director Michael Scott, based on the Siege of Jadotville, in September 1961 in Katanga, will be presented at Mullingar Centre in the Autumn of 2025.

The production will focus on the troops who returned, and how they were vilified and treated, by the officials and general public, despite their bravery and resilience.

In UN and Irish government circles, all that mattered was that the men had surrendered, not that they had shown such resourcefulness against a numerically superior enemy. The legacy of Jadotville for Irish veterans was suicide, alcoholism and PTSD. The real story was swept under the carpet for years.

It is only recently that some kind of recognition has been afforded to the men of ‘A’ Company.

As part of the ‘Congo Crisis’ lasting five days, ‘A’ Company, a small contingent of the Irish Army’s 35th Battalion, was besieged at the UN base near the mining town of Jadotville (where the ore for the atomic bombs was mined) by Katangese mercenaries loyal to the secessionist state of Katanga.

Led by Commandant Pat Quinlan, the 155 Irish soldiers repelled attacks by a 3000-strong Katangese force. Outnumbered 20 to one, the 155 lightly armed Irish UN Peacekeepers held out for five days until they ran out of ammunition and water but, thanks to the remarkable tactical awareness of their commander, and their military skills, they suffered no fatalities.

Quinlan’s leadership was a masterpiece of improvised defence which is now taught worldwide in army colleges.

The occupation of Jadotville, ostensibly to protect civilians, was ordered by Irish diplomat Conor Cruise O’Brien (then special representative to the secretary general of the UN, Dag Hammarskjold) and by Lt Gen Seán McKeown, who had overall command of UN troops in the Congo.

In May 1961, O’Brien had been appointed as a special representative of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld to oversee the independence of the Congo. In August of that year, he ordered UN peacekeeping troops into action to take control of Katanga from secessionist rebels. In the aftermath of the disastrous intervention, the UN effectively disowned O’Brien and the mysterious death of Hammarskjöld in a plane crash on September 18 during a visit to the Congo to try to resolve the situation further muddied the waters.

O’Brien was disowned by the United Nations for ordering military intervention in Katanga in 1961, but documents published in 2018 confirm that he was acting with the full authority of the UN.

The Mullingar Arts Centre team preparing for the theatre work by Michael Scott are looking for survivors and/or their wives, partners or children and friends to share their experiences and memories as a basis for the production.

“We have already interviewed a number of people already and would like to be able to tell the whole story based on fact and not conjecture.”

Please contact Mullingar Arts Centre on 04494 47777 or email jadotvilleuntoldstory@gmail.com if you have a story to share.