Army bomb disposal experts were called to assist gardaí on Tuesday morning following the discovery of a cache of War of Independence grenades in a house in Newmarket in North Cork.
The five Mills bombs were found in an attic by workmen renovating a house on New Street in the town and they immediately notified gardaí who cordoned off the scene and requested the assistance of bomb disposal experts.
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Collins Barracks in Cork travelled to the scene and inspected the five Mills bombs before confirming that they were not viable devices after they had been drilled and the explosive material removed.
The Defence Forces Press Office confirmed in a statement that an EOD team had responded to a request for assistance from An Garda Síochána in relation to suspected historic ordnance found in Newmarket and arrived on scene at 10.20am.
RM Block
“Following an assessment by the EOD team it was assessed that the devices were historical ordnance, which were removed from the site and the scene was handed over to An Garda Síochána” continued the statement as it confirmed the removal was concluded by 1.10pm.
The workmen also recovered a briefcase and great army overcoat with harp insignia on the epaulettes. Local historian Raymond O’Sullivan, who lives next door, said it appeared that the uniform and the grenades dated from the War of Independence or Civil War.
Mr O’Sullivan had returned home from playing Santa Claus in Meelin Primary School to discover the bomb squad outside his house.
Mr O’Sullivan pointed out that the Old IRA was very active in the area during the War of Independence with celebrated IRA leader, Sean Moylan leading a very effective IRA Flying Column in actions against Crown Forces in Newmarket and the greater Duhallow area.
“It looks very much as if they date from the Troubles but how they got there is the question – the house is listed in Griffith’s Valuation and dates from the 1850s and it would have definitely been occupied 100 years ago but who hid the grenades there is a bit of a mystery.”
