In Reply to: siren posted by captain Mainwaring on October 07, 2009 at 08:40:45:

Yes, the siren was clearly visible on the roof of the Court House.
Minutes after it would go off there'd be flurry of activity in and around the town fire station which, in the mid-Sixties was located in the Council Yard on the Mall, where the old County Hospital once stood.
Volunteer firemen (and they were always men in those days) would arrive at great speed - I especially remember Georgie Lally, flying into the yard on his racing bike!
I remember two occasions when the siren seemed to go on for a remarkably long time: the night a C.I.E train hit a vehicle on the railway level crossing off the Westport road and killing at least three people, if not more; and the night the textiles factory in Westport burnt down.