A blogger trying to grab a reader’s attention often casts modesty aside and is boastful; guilty as charged. The Bible, so often a source of solace, has consolation.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (King James Bible, 1611, Matthew, 5:15 and 5:16)
A friend has put his candle under a bushel. I was unaware he got a First and his thesis, “A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Irish Defence Expenditure” is relevant to yesterday’s post. But first let’s get out for a breath of fresh air in the wide open spaces of Tipperary; yes, a long way to go.
You probably have not heard of Slievenamon; at only 2,365 feet it’s not in The Guinness Book of Records but the pasture on the plain in the foreground looks a rich source of Baileys Irish Cream.
As part of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 the British government gave the Irish Free State thirteen armoured Rolls-Royces. He recalls seeing three of them in service in Dublin in the 1960s. Here is one of them, called Slievenamon.
And this is why it is the only Irish Army Rolls-Royce to survive, albeit in a museum. How’s your Gaelic?
“What has assured Sliabh na mBan’s special place in history is the fact that it formed part of General Michael Collins’ convoy which was ambushed on 22nd of August 1922 at Béal na mBláth in West Cork. The ambush resulted in the tragic death of General Collins, who was then Commander in Chief of the National Army (with General Richard Mulcahy as Chief of Staff).” (Irish Defence Forces Museums)