Survivors of the 1961 siege of Jadotville have been presented with specially commissioned medals in Custume Barracks in Athlone.
The medal has been given to the members of A Company and relatives of their late comrades, 56 years after the five-day siege in September 1961.
The medal depicts a Celtic warrior, and is inscribed in Irish with the words bravery, defence and calm.
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155 Irish peacekeeping soldiers held out against a force of more than 2,000 men until they ran out of ammunition, food and water during the siege.
A number of efforts to get reinforcements to them failed, and they were finally forced to surrender.
Medal reflects what A Comp had to be in the 5 day seige, 155 men against force of 2000+ and not an Irish life lost #rtenews #jadotville pic.twitter.com/SwIJNx6e53
— Joe Mag Raollaigh (@joemagraollaigh) December 2, 2017
No Irish solider lost his life during the siege, but a number were wounded.
For many years those events in the Congo went unrecognised by the Irish State and the Defence Forces but in recent years a number of events recognising what happened have taken place, culminating in the award of today's medals.
