Ireland's Military Story

Category: Dublin Port

  • Naval Service Marks 75 Years in Ireland’s Capital

    Naval Service Marks 75 Years in Ireland’s Capital

    Naval Service Marks 75 Years in Ireland’s Capital

    Photos by John O’Byrne


    75 years ago today – 1 September 1946 – the Irish Naval Service was formally established as an arm of the Irish Defence Forces (Óglaigh na hÉireann). The Naval Service is the Irish State’s principal seagoing agency with a general responsibility to meet contingent and actual maritime defence requirements. From the early days of the three lonely Flower-class corvettes – L.É. Cliona, Maev and Macha – the Irish Naval Service has evolved to a modern sophisticated national maritime defence and security agency with a responsibility for an area of some 141,000 square nautical miles.
    Over its 75 years’ service, the Naval Service has carried out such duties as arms and drug interdiction, search and rescue, and fishery protection. Naval Service personnel have deployed on overseas missions with their Army and Air Corps counterparts, not to mention its recent deployment to the Mediterranean as part of the European Union humanitarian response to African migration.


    To mark the 75th anniversary today, L.É. Samuel Beckett (P61) – led a ceremony at
    Carlisle Pier in Dún Laoghaire. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney T.D., Óglaigh na hÉireann / Irish Defence Forces Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Alison Gilliland, and An Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Cllr Lettie McCarthy attended the ceremony receiving military honours from a Sub Lieutenants Guard of Honour (55 personnel all ranks) on Carlisle Pier. The L.É. Samuel Beckett then transited to Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin for the remainder of the ceremony. As the ship exited Dún Laoghaire harbour, she was honoured with an Artillery Gun Salute provided by Gunners from 2nd Brigade Artillery Regiment.


    At Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, the P61 received a helicopter flypast by two Irish Air Corps helicopters before receiving salutes from the crews of L.É. George Bernard Shaw (P64), L.É. James Joyce (P62) and L.É. WB Yeats (P63).
    Thank You Irish Naval Service For 75 Years of Outstanding Service

    Thanks to John O’Byrne for the wonderful photos.

  • Local Defence Force and Royal Air Force Ex-Serviceman Jimmy Dodd

    Local Defence Force and Royal Air Force Ex-Serviceman Jimmy Dodd

    Local Defence Force and Royal Air Force Ex-Serviceman
    Jimmy Dodd

    Jimmy Dodd proudly holding his Emergency Medal. Photo by Terry Healy.

    It was a privilege to meet and record the story of ex-serviceman, 92-year-old Jimmy Dodd. During the Emergency 1939-1946 Jimmy was living on the Dargle Road in Bray, County Wicklow, working as a messenger boy. He remembers the Emergency well. When he turned 17, he volunteered for Óglaigh na hÉireann / Irish Defence Forces and joined the North Wicklow Battalion, Local Defence Force (LDF).

    Jimmy remembers clearly firing the .303” Lee Enfield at Kilpedder rifle range and the cherished overcoat issued at the time. Jimmy’s unit was called out three times during this period. First to relieve the people in Bray after the Dargle burst its banks. People whose houses were flooded were brought to the LDF Headquarters at Rockbrae House. The second incident occurred on 12 August 1946, when a Junkers 52 with 23 passengers – French Girl Guides – and a crew of four crashed near Djouce Mt. in the Wicklow mountains, miraculously with no loss of life. Military units were mobilised to help rescue them. The third took place on the early morning of 4 March 1947, when 13km off Dalkey Island, the Norwegian MV Bolivar – of Fred Olsen and Company – hit the Kish Bank and broke up. Bound for Dublin Port with badly needed grain and other supplies its valuable cargo was sought after by members of the ration weary public. The LDF were called in to patrol the beaches and protect the washed-up cargo.

    Jimmy in his RAF uniform.

    Seeking adventure Jimmy headed to Belfast and enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) for the Duration of the Present Emergency. He was trained as a Vulcaniser and ground crew, working on every aircraft of the period. Jimmy served throughout the UK in several bases. In 1948 Jimmy was deployed to Berlin, Germany, and recounted the devastation of the city following the war. As tensions rose between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies, Berlin was blockaded by the Soviets from 24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949. The only access was by air, and the Allies launched the Berlin Air Lift to relieve the city. In 1951 he was demobbed and went on to become a plasterer, get married and raise eight children. He lives today in Sallynoggin, Dublin.

    Per Ardua Ad Astra

    Recording Jimmy’s story.

    If you know of an ex-servicemen or women from the Emergency period and would like their story recorded, please drop us a line.

    This project is supported by Dublin Port Company Heritage Office.

  • The Emergency Air Corps

    The Emergency Air Corps

    Project – Dublin Port’s Emergency Story

    Photos by Ken Mooney

    Aviation historians Tony Kearns and Michael Whelan in the Air Corps Museum, Baldonnel.

    We had the pleasure today of meeting two of Ireland’s leading aviation historians – Corporal Michael Whelan (Museum Curator) and Tony Kearns (Volunteer historian) – at the Air Corps Museum, Casement Aerodrome. The Air Corps museum is a credit to the service. A dedicated team help record and preserve the military aviation heritage of Ireland. For our project on Dublin Port during the Emergency Michael and Tony took us through the story of the Air Corps during the period and the system in place with the Air Defence Command. During the period the Air Corps with limited resources patrolled Irish air space in order to deter belligerent aircraft and spot U-boat activity. Dublin port was key to Ireland’s survival The Defence Forces developed the Air Defence Command which used information from a network of observation and look out posts around the country. If a belligerent aircraft was spotted and flying over Irish air space the respective anti-aircraft and Air Corps units would be notified. In the early days of the Emergency the Air Corps only had three Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters. As Tony explained Gladiators were scrambled to intercept Luftwaffe aircraft but by the time, they were airborne the German aircraft were out of Irish airspace.

    The museum has several exhibits and artefacts from the period including an Avro Cadet, a Bofors L/60 antiaircraft gun, and wreckage from various aircraft. Although entering service after the Emergency the Avro XIX in the museum collection is similar in design to the Avro Anson used by the Air Corps during the war years. The story of the Avro Cadet is a remarkable one. Entering service with the Air Corps in 1932 it went on to serve during the Air Corps in various support roles. The Cadet in the museum was given to farmer after the Emergency. For 40 years it was laid up to be eventually restored in England and then sold to a collector in New Zealand. In 2007 the Irish State purchased the aircraft for the Air Corps museum.

  • Dublin Port’s Emergency Story

    Dublin Port’s Emergency Story

    Dublin Port’s Emergency Story

    An Irish Army 3.7 Inch Anti-Aircraft Gun

    We are pleased to announce a wonderful project for the Dublin Port Company that will tell the story of the Emergency (1939 – 1946) in Dublin; in particular the defence of Dublin and the port. If you are a veteran or there is a veteran from this period in your family that served in the Dublin area either with the Irish Army, Marine Service/Inscription, Air Corps, Local Defence Force, Local Security Force, Air Raid Warden or St. John Ambulance please do get in touch. We would like to record as many of these stories as possible before they are lost to time.

    Although Ireland declared neutrality it did not escape the war. Members of the Defence Forces, emergency services, and Merchant Navy risked their lives to ensure Ireland and its citizens were defended and supplies kept coming in. Anti-Aircraft batteries, coastal artillery, and coastal Look Out Posts became a common feature around the country. Naturally Dublin – the capital – and its port were vital to Ireland’s survival. The war came directly to the Irish people more than once. On several occasions Luftwaffe aircraft jettisoned their bombs after getting lost on their way to targets in Northern Ireland or the United Kingdom. Probably the most significant attack in Dublin came on the night of 31 May 1941, when four high-explosive bombs were dropped by Luftwaffe aircraft on the North Strand area of Dublin City. Twenty-eight people were killed and 90 more were injured in the blast. Some 400 people were left homeless.

    This image shows the destruction on North Strand.

    We’d love to hear from you if you have a story you’d like to tell.Please Share this post with your friends.

    Images with thanks to: Military Archives, Air Corps Museum, Dublin City Archives, and the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI collection.