The Ballymanus mine disaster occurred on 10 May 1943 on a beach at Ballymanus,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

when local villagers attempted to bring ashore an unexploded marine mine. Eighteen men and boys between the ages of 13 and 34 were killed in the explosion. Another died later. According to contemporary reports, the mine had been spotted by a number of people, including local youths, some of whom then waded out and tied ropes around it in an attempt to haul it ashore. They were then joined by other men and boys from the local area but as it was being hauled along the beach it is believed to have struck a rock and exploded, killing 18 people instantly. Another died the following day. More than 40 houses in the nearby village were damaged by the blast. Ireland was officially neutral during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and there would not have been the same level of awareness amongst the public of the dangers of unexploded ordnance as in countries involved in the conflict. Other commentators noted that 15 other mines were made safe in Donegal in the same year, that local senior

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

members were aware of the mine at least 3 hours before the explosion and expected to secure a cordon around any reported mines. However, while some effort had been made to advise the community of the dangers, the additional actions prescribed in the standing orders had not been taken.

References

{{coord missing, County Donegal Explosions in Ireland 1943 in the Republic of Ireland History of County Donegal Independent Ireland in World War II 1943 disasters in Europe 1940s disasters in Ireland May 1943 in Europe Explosions in 1943