Established in 1868, Valentia Observatory in Caherciveen was by 1921 one of the most important geophysical observatories in Europe. Its regular reports of current weather conditions, sent by electric telegraph, were eagerly awaited by forecasters abroad; it had begun wind measurements in the upper atmosphere using a theodolite and pilot balloons; and it operated an extensive programme for monitoring the Earth's magnetic field. And then came "the Troubles".

In fact the routine at the observatory suffered little disruption during the War of Independence. There was a raid by a group of armed men one night in June 1921, and a theodolite and a telephone were taken, but telegraphic communications were maintained throughout the period and all normal weather reports were sent without any interruption.

But the Civil War was more exciting. Jackie O'Sullivan, in his excellent Valentia Observatory: A History Of The Early Years, quotes a report written in August 1922 by his predecessor, C.D. Stewart, newly appointed superintendent of the observatory:

"On 23rd the Irish Free State forces took the town of Cahirciveen after some fighting, most of the actual shooting taking place in the vicinity of the Observatory. The whole operation was easily visible from the Observatory windows. The 18h and 21h observations were incidentally rendered extremely unpleasant by the constant crossfire of the two sides. At 11.30 p.m. the occupants of the Observatory were wakened by a party of Free State troops requiring food and shelter. They left about 2 a.m. for the town, which since then has been in their hands."

Apart from the safety of his staff, Stewart's main concern from then on was how to transmit his regular weather reports to London, the raison d'etre of his establishment.

For the rest of 1922 and much of 1923 telegraphic communication was undependable because the wires from Cahirciveen to the wireless station at Valentia were regularly cut. A complaint from the meteorological authorities in London, however, drew a terse response:

"The isolation of this station is no fault of the staff and cannot be remedied by us. Wires calling for the urgent rendering of returns are ludicrous, since to commence with, the wire never reaches us in less than a week, and more frequently takes three weeks."

But by mid-1923 the observatory routine had settled back to normal. Stewart remarked that it was "a matter for satisfaction that during the whole of the time in which these considerable difficulties were experienced, no observation was missed and no record was lost from an autographic instrument except through the failure of the instrument". He also noted that "the Observatory itself suffered no molestation".