Qualla: Rockhill Barracks https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Rockhill Barracks https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks Rockhill Barracks: Introduction https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks/ Photo credit CeltBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0. On Wednesday 28 January 2009, soldiers of B Company, 28th Infantry Battalion of the Irish Army formed up on Barracks Avenue in Letterkenny for the last time. They marched down the avenue, through the town to the courthouse on Main Street, and on to the library - the chosen route for a ceremonial farewell. Rockhill Barracks, which had housed Irish troops continuously since 1969, was closing for budget reasons. 135 personnel were transferring to Finner Camp in Ballyshannon. The local councillor Dessie Larkin had asked what people in north Donegal would do if there was a flooding crisis. He did not get a clear answer. Three days later, the barracks gate was locked for the last time.

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Image: CeltBrowne | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/gcf2-rockhill-barracks-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Rockhill Barracks: From Manor to Barracks https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks/ Photo credit CeltBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Rockhill House is older than the Irish state by three centuries. Captain Thomas Chambers is the earliest recorded occupier, in 1660. The present 30-room stone building dates from 1824 and is a protected structure. For most of its history it was a country house of the gentry, set ...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/gcf2-rockhill-barracks-from-manor-to-barracks.mp3 0:06 2 full Rockhill Barracks: The Troubles Across the Border https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks/ Photo credit CeltBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0. The reason for the army's arrival was sixty miles up the road. In August 1969, riots in Derry and Belfast had escalated and Northern Ireland was slipping into what would become the Troubles. Taoiseach Jack Lynch responded with a televised address - "the Irish Government can no lo...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/gcf2-rockhill-barracks-the-troubles-across-the-border.mp3 0:06 3 full Rockhill Barracks: Golf on the Lawn https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks/ Photo credit CeltBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Long before the army arrived, Rockhill's lawns hosted a different kind of activity. A surviving letter from a Stewart estate steward, written before 1900, reports to his absent master that golf is being played on the grounds: "Mr Chambers, Manager of the Ulster Bank, Dr Carre and...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/gcf2-rockhill-barracks-golf-on-the-lawn.mp3 0:06 4 full Rockhill Barracks: A Furious Speech in the Dáil https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks/ Photo credit CeltBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0. The closure of Rockhill in the 2008 budget cuts was politically explosive in Donegal. Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea defended the decision: "There were too many army barracks for an army and a country of Ireland's size." Local people calculated that the closure would cost the ...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/gcf2-rockhill-barracks-a-furious-speech-in-the-d-il.mp3 0:06 5 full Rockhill Barracks: What Comes Next https://qualla.com/rockhill-barracks/ Photo credit CeltBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the years since closure, Rockhill House has not found a clear future. Lieutenant-Colonel Declan O'Carroll, a former commanding officer, suggested it could house the County Museum, which is short of space at its current location. A former Green Party politician proposed convert...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/2/rockhill-barracks-wp/gcf2-rockhill-barracks-what-comes-next.mp3 0:06 6 full