Don Tidey kidnapping brought 1980s Ireland together across the sectarian divide
![Don Tidey kidnapping brought 1980s Ireland together across the sectarian divide Don Tidey kidnapping brought 1980s Ireland together across the sectarian divide](/cms_media/module_img/7672/3836302_10_articlesmall_FILE_20PHOTO_20Don_20Tidey-2.jpg)
Don Tidey speaking to media with his daughter Susan and son Alastair (right) after his release on December 17, 1983. File picture: Eamonn Farrell/Rolling News
!['The Kidnapping' by Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevey tells the extraordinary story of the kidnap and eventual rescue of Don Tidey. 'The Kidnapping' by Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevey tells the extraordinary story of the kidnap and eventual rescue of Don Tidey.](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7672/3836323_11_articleinline_kidnappingmockup.jpg)
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![The bodies of Private Patrick Kelly and Garda Peter Garry Sheehan being removed from Derrada Wood on Saturday December 19, 1983, having lost their lives during the mission to rescue Don Tidey. File picture: Pat Langan/The Irish Times The bodies of Private Patrick Kelly and Garda Peter Garry Sheehan being removed from Derrada Wood on Saturday December 19, 1983, having lost their lives during the mission to rescue Don Tidey. File picture: Pat Langan/The Irish Times](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7672/3836326_11_articleinline_Tideydeaths.jpg)
![Don Tidey with detectives following his rescue at Ballyconnell Garda Station. File picture: Peter Thursfield/Irish Times Archive Don Tidey with detectives following his rescue at Ballyconnell Garda Station. File picture: Peter Thursfield/Irish Times Archive](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7672/3836329_11_articleinline_Tideybeingreleased.jpg)
![Margaret Sheehan whose son Garda Gary Sheehan died during the mission to rescue Don Tidey, Gary's sisters Gráinne and Jennifer, and Martin McAviney and supermarket executive Don Tidey (left) at a ceremony in September 2021 to award deceased, retired, and serving members of An Garda Síochána with Scott Medals. File picture: Sam Boal/Rolling News Margaret Sheehan whose son Garda Gary Sheehan died during the mission to rescue Don Tidey, Gary's sisters Gráinne and Jennifer, and Martin McAviney and supermarket executive Don Tidey (left) at a ceremony in September 2021 to award deceased, retired, and serving members of An Garda Síochána with Scott Medals. File picture: Sam Boal/Rolling News](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7672/3836332_10_articleinline_4116_20Don_20Tidey.jpg)
In 1997, Tidey, his second wife Barbara, and their daughter, Saskia, moved from Woodtown. He commissioned a stained glass window designed by the artist Willie Earley for Whitechurch as a parting gift.
The scene from the Old Testament Book of Tobit depicts Tobit in the company of Raphael, the angel of healing who also guards pilgrims on their journeys. For Tidey, the story of Tobit, a man taken away from everything he loves and forced into exile, has a parallel with the story of his own incarceration and safe deliverance.
The words in the window are taken from Psalms, chapter 9 verse 11: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee. To keep thee in all thy ways.”
This psalm was recited every night at the vigils in Whitechurch when people prayed for Tidey’s safe return. It was also chosen as a prayer of hope that the Kelly and Sheehan families would find consolation in their great loss.
A plaque beneath it reads: “This window was given by the Tidey family to thank God for His protective and healing presence, through His holy angels, during the years 1979-1997. The family lived in this parish and worshipped in this church.”
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by Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevy is published by Penguin Sandycove priced €16.99.