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HANDOVER CEREMONY CUSTUME BARRACKS
To mark the centenary of the historic handover
of Custume Barracks, it was decided, in so far
as possible, to recreate the events of 1922. This
saw events centered on the bridge across the
Shannon and Athlone Castle, rather than on the
Barracks Square. In so doing, the event became
very much a community event with significant
involvement from Westmeath County Council,
Athlone Castle, the Old Athlone Society, IUNVA,
ONE and the Irish Military Vehicles Group.
The commemoration had two main elements,
the first was a parade through Athlone town
and the second was a flag raising ceremony
on Athlone Castle. The parade was made up
of a marching body representing all units from
Custume Barracks led by the Band of 2 Bde,
which was augmented by a selection of both
HANDOVER CEREMONY
CUSTUME BARRACKS
By Lt Dave Graham
Photos by Airman Sam Gibney
vintage and current Defence Forces vehicles.
The parade formed up in Burgess Park in
the centre of Athlone and marched through
the town, halting on the Shannon Bridge just
before 1100hrs. Representative bodies from
the various veteran associations were also on
parade in front of the Castle. The arrival of the
marching body on the Bridge initiated the flag
raising ceremony which took place on the turret
of Athlone Castle, again recreating the events
of 1922. The ceremony involved an honour
guard, in unison with the main marching body,
rendering honours as the National Flag was
raised. This was followed by the playing of the
National Anthem which was timed to end at
1100hrs. This coincided with an Air Corps fly
past of PC9s, an Army Engineer and Army Dive
Group flotilla of small boats passing under the
Shannon Bridge, and the striking of the bells of
the Church of St Peter and Paul's. The church,
which was originally built on Custume Barracks
6 Inf Bn entering the gates of Custume Bks
