KILSHARVIN LINK TO HISTORIC VEHICLE
ACLASSIC Ford V8 car has been fully restored and is now set for a ‘dream drive’ - up to the gates of Kilsharvin House where its remarkable story almost ended many years ago. At one stage, it was a battered, old wreck, sold off some decades ago in an estate sale and lying idle in a shed in Tallanstown, seemingly worth nothing more than scrap.
But then Jonesborough man Thomas Morgan came across it, bought it, and got it back to his home.
That was three years ago and last week, he put the final piece of chrome onto the car - its total restoration complete.
‘It’s been a long three years,’ he told the Drogheda Independent this week.
He managed to get his hands on the original log book and that’s where the story really begins.
It appears while stationed in Dorset in England in 1936, the car was bought by Lt Robert Edward McDonnell of Kilsharvin House.
But within five years, Robert, who was a member of the famed ‘Desert Rats’ - fighting in Libya in WWII - was dead, killed in action. He was just 25.
Trying to trace the journey of his car, from Dorset to Kilsharvin in the years hence, has become a labour of love for Thomas.
IT APPEARS WHILE STATIONED IN DORSET IN ENGLAND IN 1936, THE CAR WAS BOUGHT BY LT ROBERT EDWARD MCDONNELL OF KILSHARVIN HOUSE. BUT WITHIN FIVE YEARS, ROBERT, WHO WAS A MEMBER OF THE FAMED ‘DESERT RATS’ - FIGHTING IN LIBYA IN WWII - WAS DEAD, KILLED IN ACTION. HE WAS JUST 25.
‘I believe it has a fascinating history, if I can oncover it,’ he states.
‘ The car was registered new to Robert and he is the first name on the log book with an address AFV School, Bulworth Camp, Dorset. the next name on the book is “The COFF- O-ERA COY with an address of 31/33 Amiens St, Dublin and it says underneath that “deceased probate”.
‘I am trying to figure out did the car go into the army after his death. The car was originally black but somewhere along the line it was painted a military green colour, that is what is leading me to believe the car may have went into service.’
The next owner on the book it returns to is Mrs Senta Woods, firstly at Milverton, Skerries and then Kilsharvan, in 1955.
The McDonnell family had a great military history with Robert Edward following in the footsteps of his father, Lieutenant Colonel John McDonnell, who was killed in action in September 1918 during the First World War. Robert was just three at the time.
He went to school in Winchester, England, going on to Sandhurst in 1933 and joined the 8th King’s (Royal Irish) Hussars in 1935, when he was 20. He went on to serve in Palestine.
In 1936, he returned home for a memorable 21st, as the Drogheda Independent, reported.
‘On Saturday night, the staffs at Kilsharvin and Milverton Hall, Skerries, where his mother, Mrs. Woods, resides, were entertained to a sumptuous dinner and dance at the former place. In addition to the staff a large crowd of local people were invited, and after great jubilation around a huge bonfire erected in the grounds they retired indoors to the spacious dining rooms where a delightful dinner was served up by Messrs. Mills, the well-known Dublin caterers. After, the repast the large gathering thoroughly enjoyed themselves till the small hours of the morning, the music being supplied by a Skerries Band.’
He saw active service in North Africa from 1939, and attached to the headquarters of 7th Armoured Division, the famous ‘Desert Rats’ he was present during the successful campaign in Cyrenaica (Libya) of early 1941.
The 7th Armoured Division pressed onwards south-west towards Tripoli and Tunisia. On February 11th, Robert McDonnell was severely wounded in a bombing attack in Benghazi, struck in the legs by a blast from an aerial mine. He died five days later and is buried in Benghazi War Cemetery.
Eva Margaret Senta Woods, his mother, died on May 9 1969.
‘ The car is fully restored now and it would be great to get the chance to bring it back to Kilsharvin and drive it up to the front door,’ Thomas states. ‘It has such a great story and I’d love to know more about it.’
It has a top speed of 25 miles an hour and ‘drinks petrol’ and has the original body and engine. ‘It has about 50,000 miles on the clock and has been off the road since the 60s,’ Thomas added.