Unsung army heroes given a voice in moving drama

Date Published: 23-Oct-2009

IRISH Army Lt. Col. Eamonn Colclough may not see himself as a hero, but in the eyes of his wife, and his family, friends and colleagues, he is just that.

Now, the public will, once again, have a chance to hear the tales of this distinguished and remarkable UN peacekeeper of nearly four decades, when the captivating play Jane’s Hero – in which he is the central character – will embark on its second run.

Having missed the first staging of Peadar de Burca’s drama, Eamonn is delighted to be around for the staging of the play – which runs at the Town Hall Studio from November 2 to 7 – this time round.

The Irish soldier, who lives in Galway City, has known de Burca all of the young playwright’s life and when the proposal was made to do a drama on the life of an Irish soldier, he willingly agreed to assist the emerging scribe.

“I thought at the time, Peadar was going to use it as background information and when he focused it onto me, I got a bit of a fright,” laughs Eamonn, who sets out on a tour of Beirut at the end of November. “I just spoke about my 36 years in the army to date, of life at home and life abroad, and then when he had it all, he distilled it down and came up with a play using experiences that I had. It is tightly written.”

While de Burca may have set out to write a general play on the life of an Irish soldier, upon seeing the production, one can immediately understand why the writer took the direction he did. Colclough recounts the most frightening, jaw-dropping stories about his tours on foreign soil – harrowing tales that have not only affected him at various levels, but have also impacted on his family, and, in particular, his wife Jane. Hence the play’s title, Jane’s Hero.

“I think that is such a huge thing in the play. It is not so much about me. It’s also about Jane at home looking after our five children while I am swanning off around the world saving mankind from itself,” says the Inchicore native.

Indeed, he tells one story when Jane…