The Irish Defence Forces established a Coast Watching Service in the run up to World War II , known in the Republic of Ireland as The Emergency , while the State remained neutral . Between 1939 and 1942 the construction of 83 Lookout Posts, LOPs, took place at strategic points (every 5–15 miles) along the Irish coastline and the local volunteers (Coastwatchers) serving at these posts were responsible for monitoring the Irish coastline for belligerent activity at sea. The LOPS were designed by Howard Cooke RIBA of the Irish Office of Public Works in 1939.
7-519: After the hostilities ended most of these buildings were abandoned and some were removed. Traces of a significant number remain in place and some are in relatively good repair. In general, structures in more isolated locations have tended to remain in place. Coast watchers worked around the clock in pairs on eight- or twelve-hour shifts. One man operated the telephone inside the LOP, the other patrolled outside. They had to report every activity observed at sea or in
14-488: Is available to view online. Two components of the Military Service Pensions Collection have also been launched online. It was described by Professor Diarmuid Ferriter as providing "the final key to the inner life and activity of the revolutionary organisations". The first two phases which are now online and form part of the Military Service Pensions Collection contain over 600,000 pages documenting
21-464: The Irish Military Archives . The number of surviving logbooks for each post and a sample ledger is available in the table below. Following the construction of the network of lookout posts along the coast of Ireland, it was decided to add large signs marking the coast as EIRE. According to Michael Kennedy's book on the coastwatching service, Guarding Neutral Ireland , it was "a way to reduce
28-601: The air in the vicinity of their LOP. Each LOP was assigned a unique identifying number starting with "LOP 1" in County Louth and continuing in a clockwise direction around the coast finishing with "LOP 82" at Inishowen in County Donegal. LOP 83 is located between LOP 35 and LOP 36 in County Kerry Each LOP had to keep a record of any activity at sea or in the air, and a number of logbooks have survived and are held by
35-830: The history of the development of the Defence Forces from the formation of the Irish Volunteers in November 1913 to the present day, including overseas service with the United Nations from 1958. The archives is located in Cathal Brugha Barracks , Rathmines , Dublin. Among the archive's collections is that of the Bureau of Military History (1913–21) comprising witness statements, contemporary documents, photographs, press-cuttings and voice recordings, compiled between 1947–1957. It
42-463: The number of aircraft landing because their crews had lost their bearings". Kennedy's research indicates that these signs were constructed at the behest of the American authorities. A number of signs such as the one at Cahore Point, Co.Wexford were built too small initially and so larger signs were built over them at a later stage. A number of the signs still exist in varying states of repair, mostly along
49-738: The west of the country. Some signs have been renovated such as the one in Loop Head, County Clare. Irish Military Archives The Irish Military Archives is the official depository for the records of the Irish Department of Defence , the Defence Forces , and the Army Pensions Board, as established by the National Archives Act of 1986. —The function of the archive is to collect, preserve, and make available material relating to
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