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IRA 'Moon Car'

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  • IRA 'Moon Car'

    Restorer refuses to give up the ghost on Rolls

    A Rolls Royce Silver Ghost which was buried in Co Cork by the IRA following a series of audacious attacks is being lovingly restored and is set to be brought back to the Rebel county.

    Built in 1919 and known as the "Moon Car", it was discovered a few years ago buried in a remote hilly area near Donoughmore.

    On Mar 24, 1924, the IRA — disillusioned that the British still ran the ports — decided to attack a contingent of British troops disembarking on the quayside at Cobh.

    They’d fitted the car, once owned by Oliver St John Gogarty, with two mounted Lewis guns and opened fire, killing a soldier and civilian and wounding many others.

    An embarrassed Free State government put up a £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the IRA unit.

    The car had been used in a number of previous attacks and the IRA decided that it was becoming too hot to handle.

    They set it on fire and subsequently buried it. It was discovered 85 years later.

    The car was acquired three years ago by James Black Restorations, a company based in Lisburn, Co Antrim, which specialises in restoring old Rolls Royces.

    Mr Black has painstakingly restored the car to its original glory.

    He discovered that the vehicle was only the fifth Silver Ghost built after the First Wold War and it was originally sold to the Adamson family in Co Galway.

    Their home was burned by the IRA in 1921 and Mr Black believes that’s when the IRA acquired the distinctive vehicle.

    During the restoration process he discovered storage cases beneath the chassis which suggested the Lewis guns were hidden there before being mounted prior to an attack.

    The car had also been fitted with armour plating.

    Mr Black has completely rebuilt the engine and the car is now in running order.

    It has also been repainted in its original primrose/yellow colour.

    A spokeswoman for the company said Mr Black was hoping to test the car on an Alpine rally for vintage vehicles which will be staged next June.

    She said he was also planning to take the restored Rolls Royce Silver Ghost to Cork and to Cobh where it was involved in the famous attack on the troops disembarking from HMS Sythe.

    A date for these visits will be announced later.
    A Rolls Royce Silver Ghost which was buried in Co Cork by the IRA following a series of audacious attacks is being lovingly restored and is set to be brought back to the Rebel county.

  • #2
    Iconic vehicles roll into Cork

    Both are vehicles associated with some of the Ireland’s most turbulent times, and they made history when they arrived at separate locations in Cork yesterday.






    At 6am, for the first time in 92 years, the armoured car Sliabh na mBan, which was used by Michael Collins, was parked outside the Imperial Hotel for filming for the RTÉ Cork series Great Irish Journeys, which will be broadcast next month.

    The series recreates infamous Irish journeys, with celebrity presenters retracing the route taken by noted figures.

    In this particular episode, John Creedon retraces the last journey taken by Collins, who left the hotel at 6am on Aug 22, 1922. He was shot dead 14 hours later at Béal na mBláth.

    The programme, produced by Peter Mulryan and Colin Crowley, will examine new evidence of what happened on the day.

    Meanwhile, another Rolls Royce Silver Ghost which was used by the IRA arrived in Cork after a three-year restoration undertaken by James Black, who owns a specialist restoration company in Co Antrim.

    Incidentally, Mr Black also restored the Sliabh na mBan with the help of Defence Force fitters.

    He drove the car down from Belfast yesterday, at speeds of up to 110km/h, to a house near Glanmire where it was reunited with the man who found its chassis.

    Andrew Daly had spotted the rusted metal in a scrap yard in Waterfall in 2006 and knew it was all that was left of the famous “Moon Car” used by the IRA for a number of operations against the British.

    The Rolls was built in 1919 and once owned by Oliver St John Gogarty.

    After a number of events, which culminated in the shooting of a number of British soldiers in Cobh in 1924, the Free State government put up a £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the IRA unit.

    The IRA decided the bright yellow car was too hot to handle and buried it near Donoughmore. It was discovered by the late Liam O’Callaghan in 1981, but ended up in the scrap yard before eagle-eyed Mr Daly realised what it was.

    The Rolls Royce enthusiast congratulated Mr Black on the magnificent job he’d done. The car, which had a purring 7.5-litre engine, even has a Lewis machine gun of the time mounted on its side.

    Mr Black said he believed the car could be worth up to €700,000 and was planning to sell it. “I’d like to see it stay in Ireland, but I have had a lot of inquiries from people in the States.”

    Anybody wealthy enough to buy the car should also have a wallet big enough to fill it up — it does about 12 miles to the gallon.
    Both are vehicles associated with some of the Ireland’s most turbulent times, and they made history when they arrived at separate locations in Cork yesterday.

    Comment


    • #3
      Mr Black has also had an important part in the continued utility of the Sliabh na Mban.

      regards
      GttC

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