Milford Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks,
County Carlow.
The
Burning of Milford R.I.C. Barracks 100 Years
Ago
By Dr Shay Kinsella
Source: The Nationalist - Saturday, May 30,
2020
https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2020/05/31/the-burning-of-milford-ric-barracks-100-years-ago-2/
MANY visitors to Milford are
unaware that the area once hosted its own
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks.
Knowledge of the police station is now
almost beyond living memory and the
documentary evidence is often hard to find.
However, the colloquial name used by locals
for the steep road leading from Milford up
to the village of Ballinabranna the
‘Barrack Hill’ preserves this chapter of
local history and brings it before the minds
of younger generations.
Elm House’
Milford RIC Barracks as it is today. |
1837 OSi map of Milford showing location
of the original RIC Barracks. |
Aerial image
from 1955 of the former RIC Barracks at
Milford |
Like so many of its counterparts, Milford Barracks
remained a charred ruin for many years ‘like a box
with its lid off with the sky staring through the
windows’ as novelist Elizabeth Bowen described them. It
was purchased by Michael Wall, manager of Clogrennane
Lime Works, in 1933. The building was renovated and
changed hands on a number of occasions over the
succeeding decades, when it was home to the Cullen,
Watchorn, Rice, and currently the Kane family.
Rechristened ‘Elm House’, the building’s distinctive
circular observation tower has survived both
revolutionary flames and architectural changes, albeit
in a reduced single-storey version. Now a beautiful
dwelling in a picturesque setting, it is hard to imagine
the building’s previous incarnation. In its quiet,
mature gardens, the flames of 100 years ago seem very
far away indeed.
Sincere thanks to James Grogan, Séimí Murphy, Tara Rice
and Deirdre Kane for much genealogical information and
photographs
- Source:
https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2020/05/31/the-burning-of-milford-ric-barracks-100-years-ago-2/
The 'Whistling
Incident' of 1835
was when a Sub-Constable named Bates whistled the tune of
'The Protestant Boys' as the local Parish Priest passed by
Milford barracks. Fr. Maher wrote to Col. Sir John Harvey,
Inspector General of Police, who began an investigation.
Bates was heavily criticised and removed from Carlow to
distant Co. Louth.
Source:
https://irishconstabulary.com/milford-constabulary-barracks-co-carlow-t2997.html
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