THERE has been a call for a memorial to be erected in Killarney to honour war heroine Janie McCarthy who devoted much of her life to rescuing people in Paris whose lives were under threat from the Gestapo during the occupation.
Born in Lower New Street in 1885, the Killarney woman moved to France at the age of 25 and worked as an English teacher.
Concerned at the plight of the most vulnerable during World War II, she served in four different resistance networks between 1940 and 1944 and came to the aid of downed Allied airmen.
She lived in an apartment on rue Saint Anne which she used as a safe house for those in need of assistance.
Janie donated the greater share of her salary to fund a civilian camp at Saint Denis, the Military Hospital Val de Grace and the sanatorium at Brevannes, outside Paris.
According to historical articles, she engaged in many dangerous missions to provide safe hideouts.
For her remarkable exploits, she was awarded France’s highest award, the Legion d’Honour, in addition to the Croix de Guerre and a Croix de la Resistance.
The United States of America also honoured the Killarney native with the Medal of Freedom while Britain awarded her the Tedder Certificate.
Janie, who returned home every summer to spend time with family, died and was buried in Levallois-Perret in December 1964.
Now Cllr Michael Gleeson has asked Kerry County Council to erect a suitable memorial to honour her memory in her hometown.
He said the house on New Street where she spent her early years would be a perfect location for a plaque to mark her remarkable contribution.
“It would be wonderful if we could get permission from the current owners of the house to do so,” he said.
* Cllr Gleeson would be delighted to hear from anybody that can provide any further information on the life and times of Janie McCarthy, or anybody that can supply a photograph of the war heroine from New Street.
