Vol. 1 Issue 16 - March 11th, 2021 NEXT EDITION MARCH 25TH 2021 email: [email protected] East Cork News & Advertiser Thursday March 11th, 2021 STORMS REVEAL BLASTS FROM THE PAST ON YOUGHAL BEACH By Christy Parker Visitors to the former rifle range area of Youghal beach could argue that history had them in its sights recently when they found the area strewn with thousands of fired bullets. The finds, at the further end of Claycastle car park, were centred in pools formed amidst peat forestry that was spectacular- ly exposed after recent storms swept sand inwards towards the front strand. The 'drowned forest', as it is sometimes 'The Butts' rifle range known, may date beyond an estimated 4,500 years and while it regularly emerges through the movement of sand, Ferdia O'Halloran pictured with some this latest manifestation was almost of his collection unprecedented in its volume. there until eventually disturbed by either man or nature. The bullets meanwhile are dated from between the late 1800's to the 1980's, a Spanning history period that represents the origins and Whatever the conveyance, the multiple demise of the rifle range. "There's no sign remnants represent "about 130 years of of it on ordnance survey maps prior to rifle history", Robert surmises. about 1890 anyway", confirms former "The darker ones inevitably are from the Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil (FCÁ) private, British Army era", he explains. "Some of Robert Sweetnam. these are almost certainly a .577 ball ammunition type used in a musket type At home on the range rifle used onwards from the 1850's. We're The rifle range consisted of a 40 metre talking about muskets, where they poured concrete building behind a stop butt clay gun powder into the tube, followed by the mound rising between it and the beach. bullet". About half of the original 'butt' is estimat- ed to remain. Robert continues that the army, all armies, then started using "the forerunner Soldiers, facing seaward from between of what we know as bullets now", when 300 and 800 yards away in Ballyvergan they moved to copper with lead cores. marsh, would fire at targets mounted on "Around the late 1800's they began the concrete structure. The bullets would changing to pointy bullets", he elabo- become embedded in the stop butts. rates. "I'd say there are about seven dif- However it appears that a lot of them ferent types of bullet, from musket use to either passed straight through or went relatively modern self-loading and auto- over and beside the butt. matic rifles or even machine guns. Its the Hence stories of fishermen hurriedly history of the rifle range really". upping anchor as bullets splashed around them became legendary, their with verac- Aiming to keep ity perhaps now sealed by the evidence Amongst the first to visit the beach and revealed on the beach! collect bullets was Youghal artist Deirdre Morris, her husband Fionn O'Halloran The range was built by the British Army and their 11 year-old son Ferdia. which "has always", says Robert "placed "We brought home hundreds of them!" a strong emphasis on rifle combat. They Deirdre reveals. "Ferdia collects unusual would have spent a lot of time there", he objects as a hobby and they've certainly notes. It was subsequently inherited by enhanced his collection. He had to scrub the Free State Army when national his hands though, as there's a lot of lead Independence was gained in 1922. content in them of course. We also found Over the decades hundreds of thousands an ammo tin", Deirdre continues, "but it of rounds would have been fired, with the was too immersed in the peat to retrieve. capacity, depending on evolving gun and And a friend of ours found a penny dating bullet upgrades and on climatic condi- to the 1900s", she adds. tions, to travel from a half a mile to three miles. Deirdre posted her findings online, and in particular on the Love Youghal Facebook While missed targets would account for page. This attracted some insightful com- many bullets, more may have been dis- mentaries, as well as proving the starting lodged from the butt itself as it fell prey to gun for many more people to shoot out to coastal erosion. "It would have been rid- the beach, so to speak. With enough bul- dled with them", says Robert, whose lets to arm her own militia she is unsure service in the FCA from 1990 to 2009 what to do with most of them. "If anyone came too late for him to take aim at 'the wants a few, they can have them!", she butts', let alone frighten fishermen. offers, in what could be Youghal's first case of peacetime arms trading! That The fact that some bullets are split or beach is riddled with opportunity! reduced to shrapnel suggests they hit rock within the butt and remained lodged email: [email protected] East Cork News & Advertiser Thursday March 11th, 2021 kitchen - it means it can sit as a statement and marble go together beautifully, with piece against white. You could also use some muted grey tiles. 20 Kitchen Colour Ideas for 2021! this bright, funky shade of yellow on other 19. White and Concrete As part of the Credit Union's 4. Baby Blue Kitchen key areas like light fittings, lamps. Concrete is making a huge comeback House2Home series, where they sharing 'Glidden Blue Ice Age' is the exact shade 12. 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