Benbradagh (from Irish Binn Bhradach 'treacherous peak')[2] is a large hill near Dungiven in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It rises to 465 metres (1,526 ft) and is north of the Sperrin Mountains.[1]
| Benbradagh | |
|---|---|
| Binn Bhradach | |
 Benbradagh as seen from Derryork, in October 2008 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 465 m (1,526 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 171 m (561 ft)[1] |
| Coordinates | 54°56′40″N 6°52′27″W / 54.944377°N 6.874234°W[1] |
| Geography | |
  Location in Northern Ireland  Benbradagh (island of Ireland)  Benbradagh (the United Kingdom) | |
| Location | County Londonderry, Northern Ireland |
| Parent range | Sperrin Mountains |
| OSI/OSNI grid | C7219411337 |
| Topo map(s) | OSNI Discoverer Series 13 The Sperrins (1:50000), OSNI Activity Map Sperrins (1:25000) |
Benbradagh was used from the 1940s to the early 1970s as a United States Military communications base for its North Atlantic fleet. US forces also built underground stores for high explosives at Benbradagh. In the early 1980s, Col Buckley, of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (Ireland), believed the UK could use the facility to store nuclear weapons. Col Buckley complained that he did not have "the monitoring or surveillance systems" to confirm whether nuclear weapons were being kept there, but the British strongly denied having nuclear weapons in Northern Ireland.[3][4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Benbradagh". MountainViews. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
- ^ "Benbradagh". Northern Ireland Place-names Project.
- ^ "Óglaigh na hÉireann intelligence boss believed Derry mountain Benbradagh could be used to store nuclear weapons, new 'confidential' files show". www.derryjournal.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ Hutton, Brian. "Security forces feared nuclear weapons in Northern Ireland". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
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