Bombing of Dublin in World War II

At the start of the Second World War, Ireland declared its neutrality and proclaimed "The Emergency". By May 1941, the German Air Force had bombed numerous British cities, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland, during "The Blitz". As part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland was at war, but the independent state of Ireland was neutral. German area bombings aimed at the United Kingdom were reduced after the launch of Operation Barbarossa in late June 1941. ==Timeline of German bombings of the Irish state==

Despite its neutrality, Ireland experienced several bombing raids: • 26 August 1940: Five German bombs were dropped on County Wexford in a daylight raid. One bomb hit the Shelbourne Co-operative Creamery in Campile killing three people. In 1943, the German government paid £9000 in compensation. • 20 December 1940: At approximately 7:30 in the evening, two bombs fell on Glasthule near Dún Laoghaire (the first at the junction of Rosmeen Park and Summerhill Road and the second between Rosmeen Park and Rosmeen Gardens), injuring three people. A third bomb fell about half an hour later near Carrickmacross in County Monaghan, slightly injuring one person. • 1–2 January 1941: bombs fell in Counties Meath, Carlow, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford and Dublin. In Meath, five bombs fell at Duleek and three at Julianstown, without casualties; In Carlow, a house in Knockroe was destroyed, killing three people and injuring two others; In Kildare three high explosive, as well as many incendiary, bombs fell in the Curragh area; two sea mines were dropped by parachute near Enniskerry in Wicklow; Ballymurrin in Wexford saw three German bombs fall without casualties; Strafing of Blackrock Island On 20 August 1940, six days before the bombing of Campile, a German bomber strafed Blackrock Island off the coast of Mayo damaging several lantern panes and the roof of the Lighthouse. ==Bombings==

Terenure Around 10 am on 2 January 1941, two bombs were dropped in Rathdown Park, Terenure. The bombers continued flying over the city while being fired at for almost an hour, until 1:28 AM, when a bomb fell on the city, followed immediately by another bomb one minute later and then a third bomb two minutes after that. After this, some German planes flew away while others remained. The anti-aircraft guns ceased fire. One of the German planes heading north was fired on by anti-aircraft guns over Collinstown, then turned around and soon appeared over Dublin again and began circling the city, occasionally swooping in low. Anti-aircraft guns soon engaged the aircraft and it continued making aerial manoeuvres over the city for close to half an hour, dodging anti-aircraft shells and searchlight beams. It made lower and lower swoops and was fired on with machine guns as it came in low, before dropping a bomb that landed at 2:05 AM. After the war, what became West Germany accepted responsibility for the raid and by 1958 it had paid compensation of £327,000 using Marshall Aid money. Over 2,000 claims for compensation were processed by the Irish government, eventually costing £344,000. East Germany and Austria, which were both part of Nazi Germany in 1941, made no contribution. The amounts were fixed after the 1953 Agreement on German External Debts, allowing maximum compensation. Cause of the North Strand Raid Several reasons for the raid have been asserted over time. German radio, operated by the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, broadcast that "it is impossible that the Germans bombed Dublin intentionally". Irish airspace had been violated repeatedly and Allied and German airmen were being interned at the Curragh. A possible cause was a navigational error or a mistaken target, as one of the German pathfinder pilots on the raid later recounted, claiming that Belfast had been the actual target. Numerous large cities in the United Kingdom were targeted for bombing, including Belfast, which like Dublin, is across the Irish Sea from Great Britain. War-time Germany's apology and post-war Germany's payment of compensation are cited as further indications that the cause was a navigation error on the part of the Luftwaffe pilots. The technology was not sufficiently developed by mid-1941 to have deflected planes from one target to another and could only limit the ability of bombers to receive the signals. ==See also==