Explosives team call to Point pub to remove mortar shells

THERE was drama in Rosses Point last week when gardaí were notified that a business had come into possession of an old mortar device as part of a memorabilia collection – and it was believed to be unsafe.

Harry’s Bar, which has been in the Ewing family for five generations, has an impressive collection of memorabilia showing the history of the area.

Current owner Fenton Ewing and his wife Roisin told the Sligo Weekender that his father Harry, a well-known and much loved member of the community, found two old mortar shells in his fishing nets in the mid-1970s.

It is thought that the shells may have been shot from a gun battery up near the lifeboat hut on Rosses Point beach many years previously.

After returning to shore, Harry brought one of the shells into his pub and presented the other to Mary Hackett, who owned a nearby guest house and pub.

Liz Leydon, a relative of Mary Hackett, told the Sligo Weekender that no one took much heed of it and for many years it was used as a doorstop keeping the back gate open.

When Hackett’s closed, Liz kept the device in her shed. Recently, remembering that Fenton Ewing had a similar one, Liz decided that the two shells should be reunited. She offered the matching item to Fenton. Liz said that she felt it was shame that they had ever been parted.

After collecting the shell, Fenton noticed that Liz’s was slightly different to his – it had a different top. A worried Fenton rang the gardaí, who arrive promptly. An explosive ordnance disposal team was contacted to determine if this device were viable. The device was deemed to be safe but was removed by the EOD team as a precaution. Both shells were removed to Finner Camp to be disposed of.

Much to Fenton’s disappointment, they were destroyed.

When asked what Mary Hackett’s response would have been to all the drama her doorstop had caused, Liz Leydon said Mary would have got a great laugh out of the whole thing. She said: “Mary would never have been worried – Harry Ewing would never have given us anything that was not safe!”

BELOW: The two shells. RIGHT: The shells at the pub fireplace. RIGHT: The different tops of the shells. BELOW RIGHT: Gardaí and Army at Harry’s in Rosses Point last Tuesday.