Benbradagh

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[1]
Geography
Location in Northern Ireland Show map of Northern Ireland Benbradagh (island of Ireland) Show map of island of Ireland Benbradagh (the United Kingdom) Show map of 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

1. "Benbradagh". MountainViews. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
2. "Benbradagh". Northern Ireland Place-names Project.
3. "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.
4. Hutton, Brian. "Security forces feared nuclear weapons in Northern Ireland". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 January 2022.