A World War 2 signal which was uncovered on Bray Head, Co Wicklow recently has been restored by a group of volunteers.
The sign was spotted by a Garda Air Support Unit aircraft in early August after wildfires burned away a thick covering of gorse on the headland.
It is one of 82 ‘neutrality markings’ that were erected around the coast of Ireland during World War II.
A local historian told the volunteers that the sign is made up of around 40 tonnes of stones.
Local businessman Aidan O’Toole and three other volunteers spent the best part of a week cleaning the rocks and cutting back gorse roots in order to restore the sign to some of its former glory.
After fixing them into the correct place the group painted them with highly weather resistant paint, which was donated by Sika.
“Local man Declan Carroll works with Sika and he kindly donated 100 litres of special weather resistant paint,” O’Toole said.
“We used it all, so there was a lot painting. It should last much longer than if it was just whitewashed.”
As well as the word ‘Eire’ the sign also features the number 8, which was its Look Out Post number.
Some have complained about the lack of a fada on the 'EIRE' but the volunteers explained, "There was no fada on the original sign. We are just trying to restore the original."
