The razing of Torr Head Coastguard Station

Late at night on Saturday 11 September 1920, a daring raid was carried out on the Coastguard Station at Torr Head, County Antrim. It was reported that between 40-50 armed and masked Sinn Feiners arrived by motor vehicle at the remote station, forcibly entering each of the billets of the station and looting equipment, before escaping uncontested. A Coastguard Officer and five men were at the station at the time, and by all accounts escaped unharmed. The raiders stole:

All items had already been packaged into crates ready for removal from the station as the men were preparing to depart and evacuate due to raids at other stations around Ireland. Interestingly, perhaps showing some moral dignity, the raiders only asked for “serviceable Government goods” to be handed over, and there were no reports of stolen personal items.

The raiders were very polite, and their leader spoke with a cultivated accent. None of the garrison was molested, and no effort was made to visit the sleeping apartments of the station.

Belfast Telegraph, Monday 13 September 1920

The station, which had laid abandoned following the September raid, was later burned to the ground on the night of 5/6 November 1920, never to be reoccupied. By November 1920 a claim was initiated by the Admiralty and Commissioners of Public Works for £14,500.00 (worth £549,855.26 in December 2024) to cover the loss of property. After evaluation, they were awarded £7,800.00 (£295,784.21). The Postmaster General also raised a claim for “the malicious damaging of a telephone, removal of a wall-board, generator and bell, and 100 strands of bronze wire.” The claim was for £14.00 (£530.89) of which £9.00 (£341.29) was awarded.

Destruction of British Imperialism in Ireland

However, the incident at Torr Head was not isolated. By July 1920 a total of twenty coastguard stations, three war signal stations, a wireless telegraphy station, a lighthouse and a fog signal station had been attacked in Ireland.¹ Across the whole year 1920, the Belfast Witness paper reported that there had been 2,801 raids for arms, and 46 raids on coastguard stations and lighthouses along with 530 R.I.C barracks destroyed and a further 163 damaged. These incidents were not isolated nor did they end in 1920, the destruction of Coastguard Stations continued into 1923. At the time of the rebellion, there were estimated to be some 157 Coastguard stations in Ireland. The same was happening to police barracks across Ireland too, and as they often gave up more of a fight, the attacks were more violent.

The attacks on the stations, generally speaking, have been organized and ordered by the Central Committee of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and carried out by men the majority of whom have come from a distance and who have coerced a few of the local men into joining these raids.

Commander in Chief, Western Approaches, Admiral Tupper, 1920 (extracted from Shipminder, the story of Her Majesty’s Coastguard, Bernard Scarlett, Pelham Books, 1971)

From what I can ascertain from contemporary news articles, the following attacks took place. This is as complete a list, with details, I can muster with a reasonable level of effort. The war waged against the British State in Ireland was all-encompassing, and the destruction of Coastguard premises and theft of Government property no less impressive. The rebels intended to curtail the function of State forces in Ireland, and not to injure or kill the Coastguard personnel, and their families; the majority of which were English and were evacuated to mainland Great Britain after their ordeals.

1920

• 24 April 1920: Howe Strand (Howstrand) Coastguard Station, County Cork. A party of masked men in search of arms.
• 12 May 1920: Ballycroneen Coastguard Station. Raided and equipment taken.
• 13 May 1920: Ballydavid Coastguard Station. Attacked by 30 armed men, but their weapons were stolen.
• 13 May 1920: Ballinagall Coastguard Station. Attacked by 30 armed men. Minor resistance was put up by the Coastguards who attempted to call for attention, but lines had been cut.
• 23 May 1920: Brandon (Quay) Coastguard Station, West Kerry. Attacked by around 200 armed and disguised men and burned down. Weapons, ammunition and telescopes were seized. The raiders then went to Ballyheigue.
• 27 May 1920: Ballinagh Coastguard Station.
• 26 May 1920 / 2 June 1920: Ballyheigue Coastguard Station. Attacked by armed and disguised men. Coastguards surrendered, ordered to leave with their families and the building was burned down.
• Summer 1920: Ventry Coastguard Station. Burnt down, but unoccupied at the time.
• 24 May 1920: Sybil Point (Head) Coastguard Station. Burnt down, but unoccupied at the time (vacated in May 1919).
• Summer 1920: Ballingall Coastguard Station. Attacked but raiders withdrew.
• Summer 1920: Fenit Coastguard Station. Attacked but raiders withdrew.
• Summer 1920: Mizen Head Lighthouse. Raided and explosives were taken.
• Summer 1920: Hook Head Lighthouse. Raided and explosives were taken.
• 17 June 1920: Malinmore Coastguard Station. This location was an outlying signal hut for Glen Bay. It was burned and destroyed.
• 21 June 1920: Cullenstown Coastguard Station, South Wexford. Attacked by a party of armed men. A firefight for 20 minutes ensued. Coastguards surrendered after their ammunition was expended. Weapons stolen.
• 30 June 1920: Ringsend Coastguard Station, Dublin. After the Coastguards and families had been given time to evacuate their belongings, the raiders doused the station in petrol and burned it.
• 7 July 1920: Inishboffin Coastguard Station. Eight cottages, a watch room, a tower and a boathouse burned down. A claim of £10,000 was made by the Admiralty to the Irish Government for the loss.
• 20 July 1920: Clonakilty (Ring Bar) Coastguard Station, County Cork. Raiders arrived in boats, cutting off telegraphic and telephonic communications. Sentries captured and disarmed. Garrison of Coastguards fired rockets and Verey flares. Shots were exchanged and the raiders left.
• 26 July 1920, 5:00 am: Howe (Howes) Strand, Coastguard Station, County Cork. The second successful raid on the station in 3 weeks (see 24 April 1920). Attackers captured 1,000 rounds of ammunition and ten rifles. One raider was killed.
• 25 July 1920: Ballygrovane Coastguard Station. Attack by between 150 and 200 men. Two Coastguards were killed, and eight surrendered. Weapons captured and stolen.
• July 1920: Castletownbere Coastal Station. Attack by 30 armed men. Two attackers dressed in khaki and approached by bicycle. One raider was captured, and one suffered a broken leg.
• 26 August 1920: Enniscrone Coastguard Station. The station was raided, weapons and ammunition taken and set on fire. Three men were charged under Regulation 67 of the Restoration of Order in Ireland Regulations.
• 9 September 1920: Bonmahon Coastguard Station, County Waterford. Attacked by armed and masked men. The station was destroyed by explosives.
• 11 September 1920: Torr Head Coastguard Station, County Antrim. Raided by 50 disguised and armed men. Weapons and equipment stolen. It was later destroyed on 6 November 1920. The War Signal Station (WSS) was raided but not destroyed. Burned and destroyed.
• 11 September 1920: Fanad Head Coastguard Station, County Donegal. Up to 100 raiders stole weapons, ammunition and equipment in cars. The coastguard put up a fight, but the raiders succeeded. The Admiralty claimed £4,200 for the station’s destruction to the Irish Government.
• 23 April 1920: Kilrush Coastguard Station. A simultaneous attack on the army barracks, R.I.C barracks and coastguard station. Local papers reported the buildings had been prepared for defence with sandbags and barbed wire. The attack was unsuccessful and the attackers withdrew. However, roads were trenched and communications cut making reinforcement difficult.
• 6 November 1920: Torr Head Coastguard Station, County Antrim. After evacuation on 23 September 1920, the station was burned and destroyed on 6 November. The WSS was not destroyed.

1921

• 25 May 1921: Dun Laoghaire Coastguard Station, Dublin. An attack was made on the wireless station, and with fire support from the Royal Navy, soldiers patrolled the streets and searchlights combed the area.
• 12 June 1921: Teelin Coastguard Station, County Donegal. An attack by 100 armed men failed when the attackers withdrew after strong resistance from the coastguard.
• June 1920: Ring (Clonakilty) Coastguard Station. Also, see the attack on 20 July 1920. Raiders evacuated the occupants and set fire to the houses.
• June 1920: Durk Coastguard Station. Attacked and destroyed by fire.
• August 1920. Brow Head Signal Station. Raided twice in two weeks, with weapons and ammunition taken in the first raid. The station is the Lloyds Signal Station for transatlantic liners. The second raid saw the station burned to the ground.
• 12 June 1921: Teelin Coastguard Station, County Donegal. Roads had been blocked by the raiders in anticipation. One of the 14-man garrison was killed, named Charles Tennington.
• 20 June 1921: Tramore Coastguard Station. Unsuccessful attack, repelled by police and coastguard.
• 24 June 1921: Rogerstown Coastguard Station. Destroyed.
• 25 June 1921. Dollymount Coastguard Station, Dublin. Armed men appeared, evacuated the buildings and set them on fire. The fire brigade attended and the raiders remained and did not interfere.
• 18 June 1921: Donabate Coastguard Station. Attacked but only sustained slight damage.
• 7 July 1921: Morriscastle Coastguard Station. Between 18 and 20 masked and armed men burned the station. Trees had been felled to block the roads, and telegraph lines cut.
• 8 July 1921: Dundalk Coastguard Station. Serious fire, no injuries.
• 8 July 1921: Annagasson Coastguard Station, Dundalk District. Attack by 50 armed men, building set on fire.
• 8 July 1921, 1:00 am: Soldiers’ Point Coastguard Station, Dundalk. It was a determined but unsuccessful attack by several armed and masked men.
• 21 June 1921: Howth Coastguard Station was attacked by 10 men and an attempt was made to set it on fire.

One event in particular appeared to have a specific tactical aim: the destruction of six Fingal Coastguard Stations on 18 June 1921. The IRA had chosen Loughshinny as a suitable harbour to land a large consignment of Thompson sub-machine guns and ammunition expected from the United States. Unbeknownst to the attackers, the shipment had been compromised before departure and compounded by the FBI. Despite successful attacks that limited the capabilities of the British Coastguard north of Dublin, the much-needed weapons never arrived.

• 18 June 1921: Skerries Coastguard Station. Attacked by between 50-100 armed men. Coastguards were unarmed but had been given time to evacuate and take belongings. The station was destroyed.
• 18 June 1921: Loughshinny Coastguard Station. Attacked by between 50-100 armed men. Coastguards were unarmed but had been given time to evacuate and take belongings. Communication lines had been cut. The station was destroyed.
• 18 June 1921: Rush Coastguard Station. Attacked by between 50-100 armed men. Coastguards were unarmed but had been given time to evacuate and take belongings. The station was destroyed.
• 18 June 1921: Rogerstown Coastguard Station. Attacked by between 50-100 armed men. Coastguards were unarmed but had been given time to evacuate and take belongings. The station was destroyed.
• 18 June 1921: Portrane Coastguard Station. Destroyed.
• 18 June 1921: Malahide / Portmarnock Coastguard Station. Attacked by between 50-100 armed men. Coastguards were unarmed but had been given time to evacuate and take belongings. The station was destroyed.

1922

As the potential for a truce came closer, IRA intelligence was still aware of the potential that Coastguard stations held in barracking British soldiers. Recorded in the Micahel Collins papers held by Military Archives in Dublin, this short report seemingly from an IRA intelligence officer reports that a British Royal Marine, perhaps sympathetic to the IRA objectives, told the rebels that the British would occupy all Coastguard Stations on the event of further hostilities.

From the reports of attacks in 1922, we can see that the stations attacked had been defended by National troops. The reference to National troops is a real snapshot from this complicated period in Irish history, and worthy of some explanation. Sometimes also referred to as the Free State Army, these troops existed in this form between January 1922 and October 1924, and their main role was to defend organisations established as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. While the establishment of such a treaty was seen by some as a success, many Nationalists saw it as too much of a compromise. As a result, anti-treaty forces, including many of the Irish Republican Army continued to fight the pro-treaty forces. The treaty further divided already polarised factions in Ireland at the time.

• 15 July 1922: Howth Coastguard Station. Defended by National troops, despite an assault from three parties, including from boats behind the station. Positions held.
• 27 October 1922: Feint Coastguard Station. An armed attack from three sides onto the station which was defended by National troops.
• 31 December 1922: Balbriggan Coastguard Station. Saved during the attacks of 18 June 1921, it was occupied by RIC forces (Black and Tans) until their withdrawal on 29 March 1922. The station was handed over to a detachment of the Fingal Brigade IRA who used the building as quarters until the middle of December. The station was subsequently almost destroyed when three large mines were detonated inside the building.

1. UK Parliament, Hasard, Coastal Stations (Attacks) Volume 133, Monday 16 August 1920 https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1920-08-16/debates/5d6fcd4f-0b7e-47d1-a764-ade76190ced4/CoastalStations(Attacks) ↩︎