THE SOUND of gunfire rang out along the Glen of Imaal on Thursday as the Defence Forces held the final shoot of the 25 pounder Field Guns.

This was the final live firing practices with this equipment, and hereafter they will only be used for ceremonial shoots.

The shoot was undertaken by a battery of six guns crewed by representatives from the 1st, (Cork), 2nd (Dublin), 4th (Mullingar), Regular (PDF) Field Artillery Regiments and the 31st (Templemore), 54th (Mullingar/Galway), 62nd (Dublin/Curragh) Reserve (RDF) Field Artillery Regiments. Also attending the shoot were former regular and reserve gunners as well as senior Military and Department of Defence personnel.

Choosing the Glen of Imaal as the location of the final shoot was apt considering that the first ever shoot with the 25 Pounder Field Guns took place in the Glen on Tuesday June 21 1949. Thursday was a 60th anniversary of sorts.

In 1949 the Defence Forces purchased 48 of the guns, which had previously been first introduced into battle in by the British Army in WWII.

Thursday's final shoot saw crews drawn from three PDF and three RDF Artillery Regiments, and represented the first time a gun battery was formed by all six regiments.