Patrick Gillen: D Day veteran has died two weeks after receiving France’s highest honour for the part he played in liberating the nation.

Tributes have been paid to one of Ireland's last D-Day veterans who died just two weeks after being presented with France's highest award, the Legion d'Honneur.

Patrick Gillen (89) died at his Cork home on Saturday.

On December 8, the Galway native received the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur from the French Ambassador to Ireland, Jean-Pierre Thebault. The presentation at Cork's Mercy University Hospital was attended by two Defence Forces officers and Defence Minister Simon Coveney.

Patrick, a father of four and a grandfather of 12, was an in-patient at the time.

The Royal British Legion led the tributes to Mr Gillen.

The French Government honoured Mr Gillen in recognition of his contribution to the liberation of France and the defence of democracy.

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Patrick left home at 18 and travelled to Northern Ireland, where he enlisted on Easter Monday 1943. He was immediately assigned to the Royal Marine Commandos and became a rifleman in 6 Commando and took part in the D-Day invasion's first wave.

Patrick said he thought every day about his friends who died in the Normandy landings, adding: "I was certainly one of the lucky ones."

Irish Independent