Mark III Signalling Lamp
The villages of Blacklion, County Cavan and Belcoo, County Fermanagh sit at either end of a stone bridge across the Belcoo river. On Tuesday 28th of March 1922 the RIC Barracks in Belcoo was raided by a force that the Fermanagh Herald estimated to be up to fifty masked and armed men who took control of the Barracks without firing a shot.
‘This was only a short journey from (Blacklion) and we went in, and it was all arranged, we had a policeman fixed up. He opened the door to it and we captured the whole garrison.’
Captain Peter Moynagh, Ballinagh Battalion, Irish Volunteers (Oral Archive Cavan County Museum)
Inside they captured twelve RIC men and on further raids around the town gathered up four more. These men, along with weapons and ammunition, were taken back across the bridge into Blacklion. The captives eventually ended up in Costume Barracks in Athlone before being released in June of 1922.
Cavan County Museum’s War of Independence exhibition contains a 1918 Mark III Signalling Lamp that was taken from Belcoo Barracks by Frank Dolphin from Ballyconnell. He was the Intelligence Officer with the West Cavan Brigade at the time.