'Rather than admit to the Brits we had made a mistake, these mini tanks were used the transport turf from the Bog of Allen to a fuel depot in the Phoenix Park'

'Rather than admit to the Brits we had made a mistake, these mini tanks were used the transport turf from the Bog of Allen to a fuel depot in the Phoenix Park'

Mike Mahon reflects on some of the military equipment.

Mike Mahon

Trinity College Dublin

1955

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Mike Mahon

Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Life Story

Curragh, Co. Kildare

1950s

We were once taken out to sea by the Navy in one of their ageing corvettes. The purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate to potential officers the anti submarine capability of the Irish Navy. The grand finale entailed dropping depth charges on imaginary enemy submarines . These devices were launched of the stern of the ship and set to explode under water. Unfortunately our guys neglected to set them correctly and when discharged they explode on the surface and blew the arse of L. E. Aoife. We had to be towed back ignominiously to Haulbowlin by a tugboat much to the amusement of the local yokels. The story goes that during World War 11 or 'The Emergency 'as Dev called it we relied mainly on Britain to supply what arms they could spare for our Army. We ordered a few hundred Bren guns, and when asked by the British MOD did we want carriers with them the gobshite in our Department of Defence replied in the affirmative. He had assumed that 'carriers' were some kind of strap or carrying device for the guns and was duly shocked when a consignment of armored and tracked vehicles were delivered to the Army at many times the cost. Rather than admit to the Brits we had made a mistake, these mini tanks were used the transport turf from the Bog of Allen to a fuel depot in the Phoenix Park.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)