Land mines are used to destroy historic Boyne Obelisk (1923)

According to Drogheda messages “strangers” had been observed close to the obelisk at about midnight on Wednesday, June 30, 1923, and, as the explosions, “of which there were three”, did not occur until three o’clock on the Thursday morning, the theory which was held in Drogheda was, apparently, that extensive preparations had been made, the rock foundations of the monument being probably bored, and land mines placed in deep holes. It was also alleged that time fuses had also “in all probability [been] used by the raiders”.

The News Letter reported: “Close on three o'clock three deafening explosions shook Oldbridge and the surrounding neighbourhood, terrifying the occupants, of a cottage near the obelisk. In the morning they found that the fine old relic of a bygone age was no more.

“The destruction was complete. Nothing remained of the monument save its rock foundation. The huge column was lifted from its base and thrown on to the road leading to the bridge across the Boyne (not the railway viaduct), with the result that the column was shattered and the road blocked with a pile of masonry six feet high. The place where the obelisk fell is about twenty yards from the bridge or it would have been destroyed too.

“As it was, the road was split in two where the monument fell. Huge pieces of stone were scattered to a distance of 200 yards, and half a ton weight was thrown into the river bed.” The News Letter added: “The obelisk was erected in 1736 to mark the place where King William’s troops crossed the river at the Battle of the Boyne, and was supposed to be on the spot where Marshall Schomberg fell.”