A
second World War II sign have been uncovered and restored on a cliffside in
Dalkey, Co Dublin. The EIRE sign is one of more than 80 that were built along
the coastline to alert pilots to neutral territory. It was discovered following
research involving members of the Dalky Tidy Towns Committee. It is the first
time such a sign has been studied and restored to its wartime condition. A
number of similar signs were uncovered in recent years following fires,
including one on Bray Head, Co Wicklow.0During the second world war, lookout
posts were dotted around the coast and manned 24/7. One was located around half
a kilometre out from Hawk Cliff in Dalkey.
Dalkey
Tidy Towns’ Des Burke-Kennedy explained: ‘The guys who manned the lookouts were
always told to find a field and build a sign so there had to be one in this
area. We stuck a rod in the ground and hit stone. ‘We started with the letter
“R” and very soon we could see the shape emerging.’
A team of 35 volunteers
came together once a week for almost six months to help clear away the site,
lifting and cleaning 100 tonnes of stones. They then laid down week killer,
hoping to return the sign to its original wartime condition. Roadstone supplied
four tones of a binding agent which was added to the stones to prevent their
removal. Des told RTE News: ‘We thought we were finished then, but we still had
to paint the stones.
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| World War Two Navigation Lettering Site On Howth Head, Dublin. |
‘We
contacted a company called Sika. They make paint for lighthouses — that has to
be good enough for us.’ The community once again came together to tackle the
mammoth taste, painting the 20ft letters on the Dalkey coastline. The Dalkey
sign is one of only five still visible from the air.
‘They
are part of Ireland’s contemporary history but very few of these signs
survived,’ explained Michael Kennedy, historian with the Royal Irish Academy. Many
were removed by farmers once the war was over and stones were used to build
walls. Other disappeared into the sea from coastal erosion. ‘This is a national
monument — although it wouldn’t be covered by the act,’ Michael said. ‘There
are very few veterans from the Defence Forces during the war still alive and
this is a testimony to the service that they gave. It is significant that we
have such an intact sign here in Dalkey.’
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