Bomb squad called to home of former RTÉ broadcaster after discovery of explosives
The army bomb disposal unit was called to the property in West Cork. File picture: Dan Linehan
Former broadcaster Fergal Keane could hardly have expected to have the bomb squad on his doorstep when renovating his old farm.
Mr Keane is in the process of renovating an old shed on his farm in West Cork and came across a cache of old munitions — gelignite, to be precise.
The army bomb disposal unit was called to take care of the rare find, thought initially to date from around the War of Independence.
It is thought that around 100 or so sticks of gelignite were recovered from inside the building's walls.
Mr Keane bought the farm in the mid-2010s. It had been unoccupied for decades before that.
The former RTÉ journalist posted to his followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, of the unexpected find, and one eagle-eyed amateur expert, freelance journalist Damian Mac Con Uladh, was able to give even more detail.
Mr Mac Con Uladh replied: "The manufacturer, Curtis's and Harvey Ltd, of Medway, Kent, closed around 1920, so the gelignite has to be older than that."
A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said it does not comment on ongoing operations for operational security reasons.
"Once this operation has concluded, we will be available for comment," he said.
