Private Seán Rooney is the 48th member of the Defence Forces to die while serving with the United Nations in southern Lebanon.
The Irish have been part of the special force called UNIFIL, which stands for United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, on and off since May 1978.
Some 30,000 individual tours of duty have been carried out in the mission by Irish military personnel to southern Lebanon, which soldiers simply call The Leb.
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It has become an institution in the Defence Forces, with many soldiers serving multiple six-month missions in the theatre after falling in love with its people and countryside.
And families have also become involved, with sons and daughters following their parents on the well-worn path from Ireland to the Irish area of operations in southern Lebanon.
Villages in the area have also become famous back home, such as At-Tiri, home to a famous battle between Irish soldiers and pro-Israeli militiamen from the South Lebanese Army in 1981, or Brashit Bin Jbeil and Tibnin itself, where the Irish have been based since 1978.
The Irish were supposedly there to monitor the uneasy peace between Israeli force and Lebanese and Palestinian fighters, but often ended up caught in the middle.
Their bases, including their famous HQ in Tibnin called Camp Shamrock, were regularly attacked.
In the worst of times, soldiers had to retreat to their bombproof bunkers to protect themselves from artillery rocket, grenade and mortars attack in an alert called Groundhog - when all but emergency personnel had to take cover.
But the real risk to their lives did not stop the soldiers risking death to go out on patrol and help needy members of the local population.
The Irish were there for at least three Israeli invasions of Lebanon and saw the bloody consequences of war up close and personal.
Soldiers went out on patrol in their armoured personnel carriers - and rescued terrified Lebanese who were caught up in firefights between Israeli troops and local fighters.
It was often their grim task to recover bodies of those killed - often while under fire themselves.
The soldiers were among the first responders to the infamous Qana massacre in 1996 in which more than 100 people were killed by Israeli artillery fire as they took refuge in a Fijian UN compound - and many of them saw sights that will haunt them to this day.
The Irish initially withdrew from UNIFIL in 2001 after yet another peace deal, but were asked back in 2006 for a year and then again in 2011 - and serve there to this day.
They integrated so well with the community they previously served that when they returned in 2011 the village of Tibnin specifically asked for them to come back.
Although there is now an uneasy, but enduring, peace in southern Lebanon, there are no signs that UNIFIL is not needed and it is likely more Irishmen and women will be making the journey to the Middle East for years to come.
The last Irish fatalities were in February 2000, when four privates - Declan Deere, Brendan Fitzpatrick, Matthew Lawlor and Jonathan Murphy - died in a road crash as they drove from their base to Beirut.
In May 1999, Private Billy Kedian from Galway died two weeks into his tour of duty in south Lebanon when an army compound came under rocket attack.
Almost seven years earlier in September 1992, Corporal Peter Ward from County Leitrim died after he was shot in the chest by an unknown sniper while he commanded an armoured car in the Irish area of operations.
In March 1989, three soldiers - Corporal Fintan Heneghan , 28, Private Tomas Walsh, 30, and Private Mannix Armstrong, 26 - were killed when their armoured vehicle hit a landmine when they were out on patrol.
AS report later concluded the Irish vehicle was deliberately targeted in revenge for Israelis abducting a Lebanese bomb expert a year earlier.
That abduction happened in Ireland’s patrol area and our soldiers were blamed for that.
Rogue soldier Private Michael McAleavy murdered three colleagues - Corporal Gregory Morrow, Private Thomas Murphy and Private Peter Burke – at a checkpoint at Tibnine Bridge in the heart of the Irish area of operations.
He claimed the men had been shot by Lebanese fighters – but later admitted murdering them.
He was brought back to Ireland, prosecuted and jailed for life.
And in April 1980, two soldiers Privates Thomas Barrett, 29, and Derek Smallhorne were abducted by Lebanese fighters – before being executed in cold blood.
As well as soldiers being killed in action, several of the 47 died in accidents or from sudden illness while serving with UNIFIL.
Private Rooney was part of the 121st Infantry Battalion that arrived in Lebanon for a six-month tour of duty in November.
It is made up of 333 Irish soldiers, mostly from Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa Barracks in Galway.
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