An Cosantóir June 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie
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A
fter visits to Lough Swilly, bere Island,
and Dún Laoghaire our travels to the
four geographical extremities of the
Defence Forces comes to an end in Clifden, Co
galway, the site of our most westerly position
and home to C Coy, 1 Cn Cois.
Clifden (An Clochán in Irish, which means 'the
stepping stones'), is a coastal town known as the
capital of Connemara, and is renowned as the place
where Alcock and Brown landed after the first non-
stop transatlantic flight in 1919. Surrounded by stun-
ning scenery, Clifden is also a very popular destination
for tourists.
In the recent Defence Forces re-organisation the local 51
Res Inf Bn was disbanded and, under the 'single force' con-
cept, its members were incorporated into 1 Cn Cois, which
is now organised into HQ Coy, A Coy, B Coy, Sp Coy and D
Coy in Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, Galway City; C Coy in Clifden;
and E Coy in Ennis, Co Clare.
Connemara is surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic
Ocean and contains some of the most visited tourist sites
in Ireland, from the Inagh Valley lying between the Twelve
Bens and the Mamturk Mountains, to Killary Harbour, Kyle-
more Abbey and Roundstone Bog.
However, this beauty can be deceptive. The last time we
visited this area, to cover a SERE course, we watched troops
crawling through a bog in the middle of an Arctic-like,
freezing Atlantic storm. For the reservists of C Coy this is
their backyard.
C Company consists of 112 all ranks. Some, like Captain
Morris Leahy and Sgt John Foyle, have served with the re-
serve in Clifden since the mid-1980s in the then B Coy, 25
Inf Bn FCÁ. Unsurprisingly, they've seen a lot of chang-
es over the years. As Sgt Foyle told us: "We started off
wearing green boiler suits, armed with .303" Lee-
Enfield rifles and Bren machine-guns. Since then
we've transitioned through olive green combat
dress to DPMs; the FN to the Steyr, the 84mm
anti-tank and 60mm and 81mm mortars. Now
by WESLEy BOURKE PHOTOS A/SEA DAVEy JONES
North South EaSt WESt
1 Cn Cois
Clifden
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