An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie 14 | BriNgiNg hiSTory To liFe REPoRT & PhoToS By SGT WAyNE FITzGERALD O n Sunday 17th August 2014, An Cosantóir visited Ireland's newest museum, the Irish Military War Museum (IMWM), situated in Starinagh, approximately 7km off the M1 on the Co Meath side of the town of Collon, Co Louth. The 5,000ft 2 museum is owned and run by William Sullivan, who as a young man of 14 inherited the 22-acre family farm. As far as William remembers, both his late grandfathers served in World War II, which he says is the reason he became a keen col- lector of WWI & II military items since the age of nine, amassing a huge collection over the years. Roughly 10 years ago William decided to build a museum to make his collection available to others. In his own words he also "wanted to do it right or not at all" and "to make it hands-on so people could touch and feel the items too". The museum currently has five staff but plans are being made to expand this to 50, many of whom will be volunteers. On first entering the museum we were warmly greeted by Ian Callan who pro- ceeded to present us with a variety of small arms to hold and feel. My 10-year- old son Aaron, who was with me, was greatly impressed by this and with hold- ing a real AK47. I asked William how things were going and if they were happy with the footfall. "We are only open nine weeks, but look," he said, "the car park's full." He was right, and indeed it was so full that some cars were double parked. William then invited us to take the guided tour of the museum (which can be arranged in advance and takes about one-and-a-half hours). As soon as we turned the first corner we were greeted by a WWI trench system. Close by there is a video room where we watched a short film (about six-and-a-half minutes) on the Great War. William also explained the differences between British and German barbed wire systems. Even though there are over 120 weapons and 25 uniforms from both world wars on display, William explained that this was only a small part of his collection, and that he could fit out the same area with Vietnam War or Gulf War material, or even an Irish revolution-to-indepen- dence display. William has a tale to tell about nearly every item. Some have come from famous movies, including the Willys jeep that stands outside the museum, which is the one Sean Connery drove in A Bridge Too Far in 1977. He also has a Russian Mosin Nagant 91/30 sniper rifle

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