Leighlinbridge is a picturesque and historic village located on the river Barrow about 10km south of Carlow town Ireland. It is the location where the last meteorite to fall in Ireland was recovered. It is thought that it is the last known meteorite of the last millennium to have landed on earth and to have been recovered. The rock which is billions of years old was recovered by an elderly lady on December 12^th 1999, a fortnight after it had fallen. The International Meteorite Nomenclature Committee has officially named the meteorite ‘Leighlinbridge’

Apart from the ‘Leighlinbridge’ at least eight other meteorites have been recovered in Ireland. Each one is named after the area in which it was found. The ‘Pettiswood’ landed in 1779 near Mullingar Co Westmeath. In 1810 the ‘Mooresoft’ landed near Lattin, Co Tipperary. The ‘Limerick’ fell to earth near Adare, Co Limerick in 1813. The ‘Killeter’ landed near the town of Castlederg Co Tyrone in 1844. In 1865 the ‘Dundrum’ fell near the village of Dundrum in Co Tipperary. The ‘Crumlin’ fell near Crumlin in Co Antrim in 1902 and in 1969 the ‘Bovedy’ fell near the town of Limavady in Co Derry. Parts of the meteorites are stored in the National Museum in Dublin and the Natural History Museum in London and the Smithsonian Institute in the US.

On the night the ‘Leighlinbridge’ fell to earth an exploding fireball lasting several seconds was observed over Carlow town. This was followed by a loud noise from the following sound waves, which were travelling more slowly and which caused houses to shake. Following the initial discovery on December 14^th two more pieces of the meteorite were found later. A Scottish meteor dealer purchased the Leighlinbridge Meteor for £20,000. It was analysed at the National History Museum in London and a piece of the meteorite weighing about a gram was offered for sale in 2009 for £250.

The Leighlinbridge Meteorite lit up the night sky over Carlow as it fell to earth just after 10pm in the year 1999 On This Day.

Philae drill / Philae Eisschrauben by DLR_de on 2014-10-07 15:22:19

Photo by DLR_de

Egypt-6A-053 – Philae Temple by archer10 (Dennis) (60M Views) on 2004-10-01 03:06:59

Photo by archer10 (Dennis) (60M Views)

Captain Patrick Reid whose family were from Carlow, Ireland was one of the few people to escape from Colditz Castle during World War II. Colditz Castle, which is located in the state of Saxony in Germany, was used as prisoner-of-war camp by the Nazi’s during the war.

Patrick Reid, whose father John Reid was from Grange near Tullow, Co Carlow was born in Ranchi the capital of the state of Jharkhand in north eastern India. He was educated Clongowes Wood College Co Kildare, Ireland and graduated from King’s College London in 1932. He later trained as a civil engineer.

In 1935 Patrick Reid joined the British Army and was mobilised for active duty on August 24^th 1939. Whilst serving as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he was captured by the Germans on May 27th 1940 near Cassel about 30km south of Dunkirk in France. He was sent as a prisoner of war to Laufen Castle in Bavaria close to the Austrian border. Three months later having dug a tunnel Reid and five other prisoners escaped and tried to reach Yugoslavia. They were captured within days and returned to prison.

In November 1940 they were sent to ‘escape proof’ Colditz Castle, which is located in the town of Colditz, between Leipzig and Dresden. Following several escape attempts Reid and three others escaped from Colditz. Reid crossed the border into Switzerland in October 1942 and remained there for the remainder of the war.

After the war Reid served for a time as a diplomat in Turkey. He was later appointed as an administrator of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (now the OECD) based in Paris. He also became a writer detailing his experiences as a prisoner of war and his escape attempts. Some of his writings about Colditz formed the basis for a film in 1955 and later for a series on television. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1945. Captain Reid died in Bristol in 1990 at the age of 79.

Patrick Robert Reid was born in the year 1910 On This Day.

Colditz Castle

Photo by Spicygreenginger

Milford Mills are located at Ballygowan on the banks of the River Barrow about 8km south of Carlow town, Ireland. The Mills, which were established by the Alexander family in 1790, contained flourmills, kilns and malt houses.

From the time of establishment he business of the Mills grew rapidly and by 1840, Mr. & Mrs Hall’s “Ireland” described the Milford Mills as ‘one of the most extensive and celebrated in Ireland’. The huge buildings were reported to house two of the largest mill wheels in Ireland. In 1862 disaster struck when the Mills were destroyed by fire.

The local Milford Constabulary were the first to notice the fire at around 11.30pm. The alarm was raised and the fire brigade from Carlow was called to the scene. Police from Carlow town and the nearby stations at Leighlinbridge and Bagenalstown also rushed to help. Despite the best efforts of the fire brigade, people who worked at the mills and the police, the mill, machinery and large amounts of corn were destroyed. A local newspaper, The Carlow Sentinel reported ‘a sad scene of havoc and desolation’.

Almost thirty years after the fire, Milford Mills was used to generate an electricity supply for Carlow town. The electricity was used for approximately 7.5km of street lighting and the supply of electric lights to 1,500 private users. When the electricity supply was switched on, on June 24^th 1891, it made Carlow the first inland town in Ireland to have electric lighting. Today Milford Mills continues to supply electricity to the national grid.

The flour mills section of Milford Mills near Carlow town destroyed by fire in the year 1862 On This Day.

Photo by hugh.carlow