sliabh na mBan | 15
ONE MAN'S SCRAP IS ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE:
The Lynch Family and Sliabh na mBan BY CAPT PAT O'CONNOR T
he armoured Rolls-Royce (ARR) Sliabh na mBan has had an exciting and varied history in service with
the Irish Army. The car first saw action on Dublin's O'Connell Street during the Civil War and was part of the National Army convoy that was ambushed at Béal na Bláth and which tragically ended in the death of General Michael Collins; it was captured by anti-Treaty forces and later recovered deficient its machine gun, it has
starred alongside James Cagney in the 1959 film Shake Hands with the Devil and was used in the later productions Insur- rection and Shadow of Beal na Blath. Having seen so much service, one might
ask how can this historic vehicle still hope to be part of the plans for the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising? The answer is largely down to three genera- tions of the Lynch family; Paddy, Pat and Padraig Lynch.
Paddy Lynch standing to the left of Sliabh na mBan, admiring the armoured car he helped to preserve
Sliabh na mBan prior to restoration
THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE
