St Lucia Barracks, Omagh
St Lucia Barracks | |
---|---|
Omagh | |
A helicopter landing at the base in the 1960s | |
St Lucia Barracks Location within Northern Ireland | |
Coordinates | 54°36′14″N 07°18′25″W / 54.60389°N 7.30694°WCoordinates: 54°36′14″N 07°18′25″W / 54.60389°N 7.30694°W |
Type | Barracks |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | British Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1875-1881 |
Built for | War Office |
In use | 1881-2007 |
St Lucia Barracks, Omagh is a former military base in Omagh, Northern Ireland.
History
The War Department (now the Ministry of Defence) leased the 5-acre (20,000 m2) and twenty seven perches from a prominent family on 10 April 1875 for sixty pounds per annum. The lease ran for 999 years or until the War Department/MOD ceased to use for military purposes or sublet, assigned the premises for use other than military. The original lease is still held by the now MOD and copy held with the Archdale family (per copy of lease between Member of Archdale family and Secretary Dept of war). The barracks were originally established as the depot of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and opened in 1881.[1] In 1924 the barracks also became the depot of the Royal Irish Fusiliers.[2]
An Auxiliary Territorial Service camp was established on the site during the Second World War and Lisanelly Barracks was built on an adjacent site around this time.[1]
The base was the subject of a botched proxy bomb attack on 24 October 1990, when the main charge of the bomb failed to explode.[3] The barracks closed in 2007 as part of the demilitarisation of Northern Ireland according to the Belfast Agreement. Eventually, an environmentally friendly PSNI station was built on the grounds next to the existing St Lucia barracks site in 2010.[4]
References
- ↑ "The Inter-War Years". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ↑ English, p. 126
- ↑ "Omagh gets green police station". Ulster TV. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
Sources
- English, Richard (2005). Armed struggle: the history of the IRA. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517753-3.