The WW2 Look-Out Posts of Waterford (LOPs)
A network of 83 Look Out Posts (LOPs) was constructed at approximately 10 to 20 mile intervals around the coast of Ireland during “The Emergency”. These single bay, single story, flat roofed mass concrete structures were built to the standardised designs of William Henry Cooke (1881-1977) of the Office of Public Works. It is said that these look outs could be constructed in a single day, using 137 precast blocks.
The LOP were numbered and in Waterford they were built at Brownstown Head, LOP 17, Dunbrattin, LOP 18, Helvick, LOP 19 and Ram Head, LOP 20. These posts were manned by the Marine and Coastwatching Service, which comprised of members of the Local Defence Force (LDF) and it was the primary intelligence-gathering system responsible for reporting all incidents at sea and in the air to Military Intelligence (G2). The service was disbanded in October 1945.
If you would like to find out more, the coast and marine section on www.heritagemaps.ie has links to the log books for each station, and a list of those who manned the stations.
Further Links
- Military archives website – http://www.militaryarchives.ie
- Waterford County Museum’s page on LOPs
