The setting up of Coastal Watching Posts was first proposed in 1939 at the outbreak of WW 2. Later that year, the Coastal Watching Service was formed and was under the control of the Marine Service. A number of watching posts, over eighty in number, were constructed around the Irish coast and they were equipped with telephones, semaphore, Morse code equipment, and a telescope. The movement of ships and aircraft was logged by the observers and the information was passed along to the higher authorities. The observers worked on a roster and each man did a two hour shift. The service lasted throughout the war years until it was finally disbanded in October, 1945.

 

Coastal Watch Post at Roonagh Quay,

At least two of the specially constructed posts have survived the rigours of time in Co. Mayo, one stands on Downpatrick Head, near Ballycastle and the other, more degraded, stands on a hill overlooking Roonagh Quay, near Louisburgh.

 

View from the interior of the hut.