In October 2024, 90-year-old Callaghan (Cal) O’Keeffe spotted a car reversing towards a woman in a supermarket car park in Fermoy, Co Cork.
She was carrying her shopping and the driver, also in his 90s, hadn’t seen her. Cal shouted at the driver and tried to alert the woman to the danger.
But his efforts weren’t working. As the car moved towards the woman, Cal decided he had to push her out of its direct line.
Though the woman was still struck by the car and suffered serious injuries, she survived. Cal, having caught the collision full on, was fatally wounded. He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterwards.
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“He was a lovely man – very caring, very kind, very interested in people,” said Martin O’Keeffe, Cal’s son.
On Friday afternoon, Martin collected a gold medal at the National Bravery Awards at Leinster House on behalf of his late father.
In his career, Cal was a primary school headmaster and a farmer. When he gave up teaching, he continued farming right until the age of 88.
“It’s emotional but we’re very proud as well,” Martin said.
He described the award as “bittersweet”.
“We’re very proud that he’s won this and that he’s been honoured in this way,“ he said.
Among the feats of bravery carried out by those other recipients were responses to emergencies involving water, fire, cliffs and a home invasion.
Last September, Naoise Quinn, an 18-year-old from Cork, managed to prevent a distressed man from jumping off a cliff at the Beacon, Baltimore.
Seeing him make for the cliff edge, Naoise acted on impulse and “instinct”, and tackled the man to the ground, attempting to talk to him and calm him down.
He had to contend with several bouts of struggle as the man broke free of his grip and tried to run back towards the edge. Ultimately, Naoise and his friend Ailise managed to restrain the man until Gardaí arrived.
“It’s tough to remain calm in that situation,” Naoise says.
“The adrenaline is nothing like you’d ever feel. If I let go, he was gone.”
The youngest award recipient Carla Murphy, then aged nine, who responded to an intruder attacking her mother at home in Waterford two years ago.
Carla phoned her father, and despite him telling her to stay in her room, she was so scared for her mother that she opened her door and ran to the kitchen.
Retrieving a knife from the kitchen drawer, she went upstairs and tried to help free her mother from the attacker. Carla’s mother managed to get her nails into the attacker, and the pair were able to flee the bedroom and house. Gardaí arrested the man a short time later in a neighbouring garden.
Medal recipients were introduced by ceremony MC Joe Duffy and the Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy TD.
Anyone affected by issues raised in this article can contact Samaritans Ireland on 116 123
