Massereene Barracks

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Massereene Barracks
Antrim, Northern Ireland
Platform at Lough Neagh - geograph.org.uk - 759105.jpg
Platform on Lough Neagh which was almost certainly used for naval training purposes
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Massereene Barracks
Location within Northern Ireland
Coordinates 54°43′18″N6°13′51″W / 54.7216°N 6.2307°W / 54.7216; -6.2307
TypeBarracks
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
OperatorFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Site history
Built1942
In use1942-2010
Garrison information
Occupants 3rd Infantry Brigade

Massereene Barracks is a former military installation in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

History

The site was acquired from Clotworthy Skeffington, 11th Viscount Massereene for a shooting range in 1893. [1] In 1942, during the Second World War, the Admiralty commissioned a torpedo factory there such that Mark 8 torpedoes could be manufactured in the factory and then tested on Lough Neagh. [2] After the War the site became the Royal Naval Armaments Depot Antrim. [3] 33 Independent Field Squadron Royal Engineers arrived at the barracks in July 1974 [4] and, after 33 Independent Field Squadron was absorbed into 25 Regiment Royal Engineers, that regiment took over the barracks in 1992. [5]

The site was subsequently handed over to the Royal Marines and, from 1993, it was used as a base for the Royal Marine vessels Grey Wolf and Grey Fox which were deployed in counter terrorism and police operations on Lough Neagh and inshore waterways in Northern Ireland; [6] the barracks were the subject of considerable further development in 1998. [7]

The site then passed to the British Army and became the home of 38 Engineer Regiment in July 2008. [8] On 7 March 2009, two off-duty British soldiers of the regiment were shot dead outside the barracks. [9] [10] Two other soldiers and two civilian delivery men were also shot and wounded during the mass shooting. A dissident Irish republican paramilitary group, the Real IRA, claimed responsibility. [11] [12] After 38 Engineer Regiment moved to RAF Aldergrove in 2010, [13] the barracks were demolished and the site sold to Randox Laboratories in December 2013 for use as a science park. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "Shooting range on the Massereene Estate". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 17 March 1893. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Antrim". Down Memory Lane. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "Torpedo Production and Test Facility, Antrim". The Second World War in Northern Ireland. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "33 Squadron". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "25 Regiment - 2 Division Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "Are Royal Navy's aging Gibraltar assets fit for purpose?". Panorama. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "British Forces (Northern Ireland)". Hansard. 3 November 1998. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "38 Engineer Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Two soldiers shot dead in attack on Antrim barracks". The Irish Times . 8 March 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
  10. ↑ "How the barracks attack unfolded". BBC News. 8 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
  11. ↑ "Two die in 'barbaric' Army attack". BBC News. 8 March 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "'Real IRA was behind army attack". BBC News. 8 March 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "Massereene army barracks sold off". Belfast Telegraph. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  14. ↑ "Randox Science Park hosts Secretary of State". Ministry of Defence. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
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