The death has taken place of retired Colonel Mort Buckley. He was 93.
Col Buckley commanded the first battalion of 700 Irish troops sent to the Congo in July 1960.
He was originally from Kerry, but lived in Cloghan, Co Offaly.
Colonel Buckley was in the Congo when an 11-man patrol from a second Irish battalion was involved in an ambush at Niemba in November 1960.
Nine of them were killed during the arrow attack by Baluba tribesmen. The State funeral in Dublin of the dead soldiers was attended by 500,000 people.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen last week described the Niemba deaths as a sharp wake-up call for Ireland, as the nation and the international community more widely began to fully appreciate the cost that had to be borne in the cause of peace.
Colonel Buckley later took charge of troops in the Western Command.
He is survived by two sons and four daughters.
Military honours will be rendered at his funeral in Clonmacnoise tomorrow morning.
