placenamesPortacloy
Port an Chlóidh
The history and reconstruction of Look-Out Post63 preserve a coastal chapter associated with Portacloy Bay.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Port an Chlóidh · Irish · main form
- Portacloy · English · main form
Place & story
A post above the bay
Look-Out Post 63 began operating in September 1939, initially under the name Benwee Head before becoming Portacloy. The project documenting its history locates the structure in neighbouring Stonefield townland, above the western side of Portacloy Bay. Coastwatchers first worked from a tent before a standard concrete hut replaced it. The post’s association with Portacloy therefore extends beyond the village’s immediate buildings. [2]
Recording the sea and sky
Local volunteers worked in pairs, noting ships, aircraft and objects seen offshore. The building history records shifts lasting eight to twelve hours and describes the logbook and telephone inside the hut. Telephone communication allowed reports to travel between posts and to central authorities. These records connected a small coastal community with the wider system of observation maintained during Ireland’s wartime neutrality. [3]
Reconstructing the lookout
A storm brought down the hut on 21 October 2014. The reconstruction project describes engineers Jim Mansfield and Eugene Maguire advising on its rebuilding, using detailed plans and the surviving concrete blocks. Workers from the Cill Chomáin Rural Social Scheme helped carry out the project. The Irish Air Corps assisted with transporting materials to the headland, overcoming a practical obstacle to restoring the isolated structure. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Portacloy. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Look-Out Post63, location and history · Look-Out Post63 community documentation project
- LOP63, the Building · Look-Out Post63 community documentation project
- The Engineer and the Materials Required · Look-Out Post63 community reconstruction project
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2010-01-06. How this page was prepared.