Man seeks Offaly relations for family tree research

Tullamore gardai, 1951: Garda John Fleming is at the back, extreme right, and Supt Con Brady is third from left in front

placeholder image — Tullamore gardai, 1951: Garda John Fleming is at the back, extreme right, and Supt Con Brady is third from left in front

Calling cousins: are you related to the late John Fleming, a garda in Tullamore between 1938 and 1958?

A MAYO man researching his family tree is seeking cousins in Tullamore.

James Fleming is a grandnephew of John Fleming who was born in Ballyhaunis on June 8, 1903 and served as a garda in Tullamore from April 1, 1938 until his retirement on February 27, 1958.

John Fleming was married on February 16, 1928 and died on June 21, 1983.

James Fleming would like to hear from anybody who has information on the life in Tullamore of his granduncle and whether the late Garda Fleming (pictured below, front, second from left, with colleagues in Tullamore in 1952) has any relations living in the area or elsewhere.

While in Tullamore, Garda John Fleming served under Superintendent Con Brady, whose son Conor is a former editor of the Garda Review and the Irish Times.

Writing in the Garda History – Policing in Ireland, An Oral History from the Garda Siochana Retired Members Association, the retired Tullamore garda, Michael Dalton, recalled that Con (Cornelius) Brady was one of the garda superintendents who shouldered the coffin of assassinated justice minister Kevin O'Higgins in 1927.

James Fleming can be contacted by emailing [email protected]