#OnThisDay 1923 The IRA attacked Sligo train station. It was mined, doused in petrol & then set ablaze. They also badly damaged several trains & carriages, one of the trains smashed through the yard & ended up in the harbour. Total cost £80,000.
#OnThisDay 1915 Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne was born in Newtownards, Down. Mayne played for @IrishRugby & the Lions & was one of the SAS orignial members. Paddy destroyed 100 planes, twice that of any RAF pilot but was controversially denied a Victoria Cross.
#OnThisDay 1987 Cpl Dermot McLoughlin, from Sligo, was killed while serving as a Peacekeeper in Lebanon when his UN compound was hit three times by an Israeli tank. Defence Forces sources view the incident as a deliberate &unprovoked attack by the Israelis.
#OnThisDay 1923 Two IRA Vols Con MacCarthy (L) & Bernie Radford (R) were killed in a shootout with the National Army in Wexford. The Army raiding party was led by Radford’s neighbour, Lt. Cousins. Radford’s brother Mick (IRA) was also killed in the Civil War.
#OnThisDay 1887 John Roach the shipping magnate from Cork died. Roach moved to New York at 16, worked in a shipping yard & made his way up. He supplied the Union Navy during the Civil War & eventually owned the largest shipbuilding company in America.
The Irish at War 