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Loop Head’s EIRE Sign

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  • Loop Head’s EIRE Sign

    Last nights Nationwide had a story on the restored EIRE sign at Loop Head.

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  • #2
    Came across this great website.

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    • #3
      Its a pity they don't do something with the one at Malin.

      Getting harder to make out.

      Every tube who goes up there seems to spell their name out with rocks in 3' letters beside it.
      'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins

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      • #4
        WHere are the other signs? I know there wasn't always an Eire sign near a L.O.P.
        I'm pretty sure there is a mistake at the ballycotton L.O.P above. I remember being at one, near there, before it was washed into the sea. It was a long time ago but I'm pretty sure it was located nearer ballyrobin.


        Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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        • #5
          Loop Head’s EIRE Sign

          Folks,

          if I may make a brief visit to your forum and ask for some advice on the EIRE signs, it'd be great. I know there has been some discussion around them on this site but am not sure about zombie-threading.

          I have started plotting the still existing EIRE signs on a bing map (I started with google but the resolution is not actually there for a lot of key sites), and I have located about 12 signs which are still visible on the satellite imagery.

          My main problem in tracking these down is that I'm not absolutely certain which definitely still exist and where some of them are relative to their associated LOPs. I've been told that some LOPs had more than one EIRE sign associated (Slieve League and Achill Island mentioned in this request). In addition I am having some difficulty matching some of the placenames from the www.lookoutpost.com site to locations on both the Google and Bing map services.

          At this point in time, I have located about 12 still existing signs and believe that in addition to those, there are at least 2 or 3 still existing that I just haven't found on maps.

          I think it's a pity there isn't a clear map of the still remaining signs so my plan is to plot them all, pick up screengrabs of them and then keep an eye on them as imagery updates which may give us an idea of how they are either deteriorating or being repaired. Loop Head was uncovered this year and I believe some work has been done on Melmore Head in the last few years.

          The locations I have plotted are as follows:

          1) Inishowen Head
          2) Malin Head
          3) Melmore HEad
          4) Horn Head
          5) Dursey Island
          6) Toe Head
          7) Black Head
          8) Erris Head
          9) Arranmore Point
          10) Saint John's Point.

          I know where the Loop Head one is but it is not visible on any satellite imagery at the moment. I also believe I have located the E from one on Bray Head in Valentia Island.

          I've only ever seen two of these in real life, namely Malin Head and Black Head, so I'm quite happy to have located the others so far. I'm not sure how many were constructed - if more than one was done for some LOPs, then that suggests at least 85 were done (if it's true that there are two on Achill and Slieve League) and there have been issues with construction in some of the now more built up areas. All of those I've located have been on the Atlantic seaboard and I have not heard of any being present with the eastern LOPs. Obviously the east is slightly harder because so much more of it has been built on in the last 60 years. However I think there may be some evidence of one on Howth Head looking at the satellite imagery so some confirmation that they were built on the eastern seaboard would help a lot. Nearly all of the information I have found refers to the lookout post boxes rather than the EIRE markings but I am most interested in the EIRE markings as well.

          Additionally, I'd like to catalogue any images of them over the years, particularly aerial shots - from here and from a similar discussion on boards.ie I know that microlight pilots occasionally take them and Coast did some helicopter imagery.

          If you can help, I'd be grateful, and without wanting to impugn anyone in Donegal, I really need guidance from the rest of the country. Information regarding the sites in Donegal is for some reason a little thicker on the ground, maybe because more of them seem to have survived there.

          Oh - the map - the link is here >>>> http://binged.it/TN5Anm I don't know if I have the right to post html or urls yet as I'm a new forum member.

          Thank you for your help.

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          • #6
            Kevindwyer.ie/wire might help

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            • #7
              Also, try using the OSI map website instead of google or bing.


              Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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              • #8
                Have a look at www.kevindwyer.ie/eire where I have aerial photographs of the Eire sign on Bray Head Valentia Island, with the hope that someone on Valentia Island will consider a project like Loop Head

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                • #9
                  WWII ÉIRE sign found on Bray Head following gorse fire


                  The ÉIRE sign was discovered following a recent gorse fire on Bray Head

                  A recent gorse fire on Bray Head in Co Wicklow has revealed an ÉIRE sign which dates from the Second World War.

                  Such signs were made up of stones and carved into the ground in coastal areas around Ireland in order to warn Allied and German airmen that they were flying over a neutral country.

                  At the time, the signs were carved into the ground by local volunteers.

                  The discovery was made by a Garda Air Support Unit crew.





                  A spokesperson said: "The signs themselves are quite common on the west coast but unusual on the east.

                  "The Air Corps helped put the fire out and then the Garda helicopter, which we fly, noticed the sign emerging from the past."

                  Up to 150 tonnes of stone were used in some of the 83 signs dotted around the coast of Ireland.

                  At the request of the United States air force the number of the nearby lookout post was added, turning the signs into air navigation aids.

                  This assisted American bomber pilots in navigating across the Atlantic.
                  A recent gorse fire on Bray Head in Co Wicklow has revealed an ÉIRE sign which dates from the Second World War.

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                  • #10
                    I don't think it says EIRE. It could be FIRE.

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                    • #11
                      Were the signs ever illuminated?

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by spider View Post
                        Its a pity they don't do something with the one at Malin.

                        Getting harder to make out.

                        Every tube who goes up there seems to spell their name out with rocks in 3' letters beside it.
                        I'm pleased to say I was at Malin last September...the chav stones had been cleared away and the 'EIRE' re-painted.

                        I went down for a look...made from rough concrete...the people I had with me (Aussies) took photos but I didn't.

                        Malin is also the only place I've ever seen a Corncrake...really special thing to see.
                        'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Orion View Post
                          Were the signs ever illuminated?
                          AFAIK yes

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                          • #14
                            Where the location has not been lost to the sea I think they should all be restored. There is bound to be some anniversary coming up in the next few years that could justify it?
                            For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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                            • #15

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