Historical photographs to be unveiled at Custume Barracks

A series of historical photographs capturing a seminal moment in local military history will be unveiled at Custume Barracks in Athlone on Thursday, September 18th.

Curated by a group of retired army officers, the photographs, approximately 50 in total, will go on display in the officers’ mess at the barracks.

Retired army officer and Kiltoom resident Sean Kilbride explained that an organising committee went about gathering as many old photographs as possible.

They primarily relate to a significant period in the State’s history when Custume Barracks and Athlone Castle were handed over from the British Army in February 1922 following the War of Independence.

The photographs originated from several sources, including the national archives at Cathal Brugha Barracks, the National Library and from noted Athlone historian, Gearóid O’Brien.

Sean explained that Gearóid had a lot of relevant photographs collected during his time as a librarian in Athlone and kindly made them available for the project.

The collection of photographs will now be on display in the officer’s mess and divided into three categories.

One section refers to the actual day of the handover from the British forces on February 28th, 1922, the second section has photographs of the barracks and the immediate environment from that time, while a third category will look at personalities not directly connected to the day of the handover but taken around that time.

A reception and talk by Gearoid O’Brien will take place in the officers’ mess on Thursday, September 18th to mark the official unveiling and handover of the photographs to the Officer Commanding in Custume Barracks, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Lennon.

Sean also pointed out that the organising committee would be offering the photographs to the barrack museum at some stage, giving the public the opportunity to view them.