WW2 Pillboxes in Ireland

Morlar · 16-09-2009 2:36pm #1

I read on another forum recently about Pillboxes built by the Irish govt in the event of an invasion from the british army.

Here is a link to a 9 page acrobat file
http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/HeritagePublications/File,35795,en.pdf

page 5 has this text ;

3.9.11 During the Emergency (1940s) the main planned line of resistance against a threatened overland invasion by British forces based in Northern Ireland was formed by the rivers Boyne and Blackwater.A line of fortifications, comprising blockhouses and machine-gun pits concentrated along the riverbanks, was built.Thirteen of these structures lie within Brú na Bóinne (Fig. 13).

Followed by one photograph and 2 maps on page 6, you can blow the maps up to 300% + without distortion to get the detail. There were a series of approx 30 pillboxes in a 20k line from Navan to Drogheda following the Boyne.

I was wondering if anyone has been to any of these ? Are many still there ? Anyone have any information on the history of them, when exactly they were built, were they regularly occuppied for any period ? Does anyone have any photos of them now or at that time ?

marcsignal · 16-09-2009 2:57pm

Nice 1 Morlar

I haven't heard of, or been to any of these yet, but just got the Vespa fixed, so I feel a road trip coming on

lucky-colm · 16-09-2009 3:25pm

marcsignal wrote: »

Nice 1 Morlar

I haven't heard of, or been to any of these yet, but just got the Vespa fixed, so I feel a road trip coming on

groovy

leincar · 16-09-2009 7:12pm

There is a pillbox on the Waterford to Tramore Road. I think its midway between Waterford and Tramore on a rocky outcrop on the right hand side.

ttm · 16-09-2009 7:25pm

leincar wrote: »

There is a pillbox on the Waterford to Tramore Road. I think its midway between Waterford and Tramore on a rocky outcrop on the right hand side.

Often seen that one and wondered why it was there, another is/was on the North side of the River bridge at Fidown (on the old road), but you can correct me on that as I havn't been on that road in a few years.

FiSe · 16-09-2009 9:13pm

Hmm, interesting... One only wonders if 'they' were ever serious about the machineguns.
Doubt that the army had enough of ammo and guns and that the Dept of Finance would puke a few bob for the purchase, even if the Churchill would approve the transaction.

Fuinseog · 17-09-2009 9:47pm

Morlar wrote: »

I read on another forum recently about Pillboxes built by the Irish govt in the event of an invasion from the british army.

Here is a link to a 9 page acrobat file
http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/HeritagePublications/File,35795,en.pdf

page 5 has this text ;

3.9.11 During the Emergency (1940s) the main planned line of resistance against a threatened overland invasion by British forces based in Northern Ireland was formed by the rivers Boyne and Blackwater.A line of fortifications, comprising blockhouses and machine-gun pits concentrated along the riverbanks, was built.Thirteen of these structures lie within Brú na Bóinne (Fig. 13).

Followed by one photograph and 2 maps on page 6, you can blow the maps up to 300% + without distortion to get the detail. There were a series of approx 30 pillboxes in a 20k line from Navan to Drogheda following the Boyne.

I was wondering if anyone has been to any of these ? Are many still there ? Anyone have any information on the history of them, when exactly they were built, were they regularly occuppied for any period ? Does anyone have any photos of them now or at that time ?

i have only been to two of them. there is one in Limerick guarding the road to Ardnacrusha. easy to miss.

there is another in the woods overlooking Blessington. not marked on any OS map.

I was at both 20 years ago. i would be surprised if they have been removed.

chalkitdown · 17-09-2009 10:38pm

There are two on the river Shannon at Corbally Limerick, near the baths.
It's at a possible fording point, quite shallow, so I figured that there must have been some plan to blow the main bridges.

FiSe · 18-09-2009 9:35am

I haven't heard about these before, so I'll be speculating here, but could part of them be WWI leftovers built as a protection against possible German U-Boots or some agents landing / secret service operations?

Ardnacrusha power plant had its own AA battery, or should I say a gun or two, during WWII, so that one could be a part of the guarding system.
There were worries from possible IRA attacks on some of the installments too, I believe...

chalkitdown · 18-09-2009 10:27am

You can drive right up to the one at the end of the Mill rd. in Corbally, it covers the old Salmon weir.

Linus67 · 24-09-2009 11:40am

There are loads of Pillboxes scattered around the Curragh. Though I believe they date from the First World War.

Morlar · 24-09-2009 12:22pm

Linus67 wrote: »

There are loads of Pillboxes scattered around the Curragh. Though I believe they date from the First World War.

Do you have any photos or links to anything on these ?

Linus67 · 24-09-2009 3:27pm

Morlar wrote: »

Do you have any photos or links to anything on these ?

I don't have any photo's myself but here is a link. The kids in the photo appear to be sitting on a pillbox.

http://www.curragh.info/landmarks/plains.htm

FiSe · 24-09-2009 3:54pm

Found this link:

http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/archive/index.php/t-9447.html

15th post from the top and beyond...

Caoimhín · 24-09-2009 4:04pm

I know where there are several, along the Boyne and another few beside bridges down the country. I was told that in addition to being used as pillboxes to shoot out of, the army had drilled holes in parts of the nearby bridges. If the British or the Germans attacked, the explosives stored in the pillboxes would be put into the holes in the bridges and blown up leaving the bridge useless.

Morlar · 24-09-2009 4:14pm

FiSe wrote: »

Found this link:

http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/archive/index.php/t-9447.html

15th post from the top and beyond...

Those are brilliant - some great links there cheers. Never heard of that Geraldine Stout book or the Henry Willis study etc.

Mycroft H · 03-10-2009 10:06pm

I was up in mayo during the summer and there was several of the Aircraft warning posts with EIRE printed in big white letters dotted around the coast.

and if i remember correctly there is a pillbox overlooking the harbour at rosslare.

Morlar · 03-11-2009 6:22pm

I went down to some of these a few weeks ago with some guys off another forum, found one straight away but the ones I could not find were the ones at the back of the battle of the boyne centre at oldbridge, does anyone have more specific directions to locating them ?

Mike... · 03-11-2009 6:26pm

I have seen 2 in North Mayo(Belmullet Area) all facing the sea, prob watching ship movements etc

FiSe · 03-11-2009 6:31pm

Pillboxes or Coastwatcher's huts?

gizmo555 · 04-11-2009 3:19pm

There is quite a few pillboxes dotted around Bere Island, in Bantry Bay, apart from the main fortifications at Rerrin Redoubt.

I don't know whether these were constructed by the Royal Navy, before it left in 1938, or whether perhaps they were built afterwards by the Irish army, with a view to repelling a return by force of the RN during the war . . .

In the same area, on Dursey Island at the tip of the Beara peninsula, there is one of the "EIRE" markers mentioned above, set out in stone. It was on the mainland shore of Dursey Head opposite the island that a Luftwaffe Ju-88 on a reconnaissance/meteorology patrol crashed with the loss of all four crew in July 1943.

http://www.hoelti.de/auschner/eng_reload.html?eng_fotos2.htm

Fajitas! · 04-11-2009 3:23pm

There's a few along the Waterford coastline too - One above the harbour in Dunmore East, by the weather tower. It's been flooded for years though. There's another at least three that I know of along the coast from there to the west.

who the fug · 04-11-2009 3:28pm

gizmo555 wrote: »

There is quite a few pillboxes dotted around Bere Island, in Bantry Bay, apart from the main fortifications at Rerrin Redoubt.

I don't know whether these were constructed by the Royal Navy, before it left in 1938, or whether perhaps they were built afterwards by the Irish army, with a view to repelling a return by force of the RN during the war . . .
]

Most of these would date back to the 1st world war , on Whiddy island there fortification built by the Americans who were based there during the first world war

FiSe · 04-11-2009 6:51pm

That's what I'd say too.
I think that the temporary Coastwatching Service structures - those 82 concrete boxes with large bay windows facing the sea and with the whitewashed stone 'EIRE' signs situated on the sites along the coast, was the largest pure Irish military development in Ireland during the WWII or 'Emergency'.
I am thinking as well, that most of the concrete machine gun pillboxes could be leftovers from the previous war, but could be wrong.

Just to make sure that we know what we are talking about. The original Coastwatcher's hut or LOP in perfect condition is on the Wicklow Head still in use today, housing some maritime radio setup.
Here's a picture of Rathlee Tower in Sligo, the coastwatcher's hut can be seen just to the left of the tower.

gizmo555 · 04-11-2009 7:49pm

who the fug wrote: »

Most of these would date back to the 1st world war , on Whiddy island there fortification built by the Americans who were based there during the first world war

That's fascinating stuff - I've strong family connections to the area, but I never knew of the US WW1 airbase on Whiddy.

http://www.thebantrygrapevine.com/index.php/latest-issue-mainmenu-2/140-us-airbase-on-whiddy-island?format=pdf

In early March 1918 US Naval personnel arrived to build a seaplane patrol base. It was built on
the east of Whiddy Island, using prefabricated units as quarters for the men. A large hanger and
work shop was also built, all these were laid on a concrete base. A jetty was also built.
The base was commissioned as a Naval Air Station on 4th July 1918. Flight operations began
on 25 Sept 1918. The base operated for only 7 weeks under wartime conditions and closed 15
Feb 1919.
The base had an operational radio station capable of receiving messages from as far as U.S.
and Russia.
There were 5 Irish stations, Queenstown(Cobh), Wexford, Lough Foyle, Whiddy &
CastletownBere.. The sites were selected by the request of the British Admiralty in accordance
with their plan of operation against submarines. All stations were completed at the same time.
Queenstown (Cobh) patrol station was the repair and supply depot & headquarters of the
commander of US naval air stations.
Thw Queenstown(Cobh) base patrolled as far as Cape Clear and the Whiddy base (also known
as the Bantry Bay Station) from Cape Clear South West out into the Atlantic.
CastletownBere was a kite-balloon station where balloons were kept for use in conjunction with
torpedo-boat destroyers. The balloons were transferred from the shore to the destroyers, made
fast, & towed at an altitude of about 500feet.
Operations of all stations in Ireland.
Flying hours: 761 hours
Distance covered: 45,683 miles.
Oil patches sighted: 5, Oil patches bombed: 3
Submarines sighted and bombed: 7
2 of the submarines bombed were officially credited as having been so damaged that they had
to return to base. One of the subs was preparing to attack a large convoy of troop ships.
One Whiddy based pilot was killed in a crash on 22nd October 1918.
Considering that each station had for a large part only 2 seaplanes in operation, though at one
stage there were 5 based on Whiddy, and that pilots had to be trained and weather conditions
around the Irish coast are not the best, the results were significant. American air patrols
contributed significantly to the suppression of German submarine activity keeping them at bay
along the convoy routes. The aircraft themselves were very fragile and operations were
extremely hazardous.
With the end of operations all prefabs and the hangers were removed. What remains is the
concrete base, now overgrown. I am told, but this has not been confirmed, that it was the first
use of concrete in this area. Maybe a reader could confirm this!
Hazel Vickery
Photographs with permission of Ralph Gifford, taken while he was stationed on Whiddy Island
1 /

kymkemp · 05-11-2009 5:02pm

My grandfather, Neil Kemp, and another man were in the plane that crashed. My grandfather survived but the other man didn't. I would love to know more about what his life was like there and what happened in the crash.

KerranJast · 05-11-2009 5:06pm

There were detailed plans drawn up at the time to coordinate British and Irish forces in the event of a German invasion of the South coast of Ireland. The Irish Army would slow the German advance until British forces from the North could get to front. There were also plans for reinforcement landings from Britain on the East Coast of Ireland. I highly doubt the Irish Govt at the time would therefore construct expensive defensive structures pointing the other way. Although maybe they were being cautious.

who the fug · 05-11-2009 5:25pm

kymkemp wrote: »

My grandfather, Neil Kemp, and another man were in the plane that crashed. My grandfather survived but the other man didn't. I would love to know more about what his life was like there and what happened in the crash.

A good book on Naval operations in the first world war was written by one captains of sloop that patrolled the south west approaches, I can't remember his name or the book title, but will ask my father at the weekend and get back to you (This book was first published circa 1932)

Off the top of my head

Overall command was in Cobh and they spend more time fighting the weather than the enemy

The USS Texas was based in Berehaven at the top of Bantry Bay for 1917/18/19

Suggest you also send a letter to Bantry Historical Society, Newtown, Bantry, Co. Cork Rep. of Ireland, who have been around for over 40 years, am sure in their records their will some accounts of life on Whiddy Island during the early part of the last century

What sort of information are you looking for?

kymkemp · 05-11-2009 7:01pm

According to my research, neither my grandfather nor the man killed (see obit below for more about him) were pilots. We have the gearshift of the plane, the watch he was wearing and I know my grandfather had some scars but we don't know much about the accident. The photo's show the plane crashed on land. The obit seems to indicate a sea crash. My grandfather never wanted to talk about what happened according to his daughter. I would love to know more.
----

Cassville Republican, Thursday, Dec. 12, 1918

IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL

AT SOLDIER'S GRAVE

Body Of Walfred Anderson

With Home Guard Escort is

Laid To Rest In Spring River Cemetery

The body of Walfred Anderson, a Barry County boy who was killed off the coast of Ireland in a sea plane accident was laid to rest in Spring River cemetery, Dec. 4, with military honors.

The largest crowd ever in attendance at a funeral in this section assembled at the cemetery in honor of the young here, who lost his life in defense of the colors.

On Wednesday morning members of the home guard of Marionville, in charge of Mr. Logan, came here to stand guard over the casket which was on view at Callaway's undertaking room. These guards acted as escort and pall bearers at the funeral.

The part left the undertaking rooms at 1:30 o'clock, the flag draped hearse following the soldier escort. In line there were hundreds of automobiles. At Verona they were met by Home Guards from Mt. Vernon, Verona, Crane, Aurora and Marionville, who marched in front and behind the hearse on the way to the cemetery.

Hundreds of people were waiting at the cemetery when they arrived. The grave was lined with the national colors and at one side the many floral emblems were banked on a flower rack. Immediately behind this was the speakers platform decorated in flags.

MarkR · 05-11-2009 7:14pm

There was / is two connected concrete pill boxes overlooking shannon airport, just out past aerospace. I remember going there as a kid. No idea when they were constructed.

FiSe · 05-11-2009 7:37pm

They must be the 'new' ones as Shannon Airport was constructed somewhere in the very late 30's early 40's, I think.

WW2 Pillboxes in Ireland

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