Former RTÉ journalist Fergal Keane has described how three controlled explosions took place at his home in west Cork yesterday after a stockpile of explosives was found.
Between 160 and 180 sticks of gelignite were found in an outhouse on his land in Baltimore during renovations at the farm.
The explosives are believed to date back to the War of Independence era.
Mr Keane said there were little sticks - "lots and lots of them" - in an earthenware jar and during further inspection they saw dozens more sticks in the wall and on the ground.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Keane said: "I knew from my work in Northern Ireland and all these other places, that gelignite is very unstable when it gets to a certain stage and stuff starts seeping out of it and becomes very volatile."
He said his family were contacted by Americans, whose ancestors had lived in the house, when they moved in several years ago.
Mr Keane said three of that family's sons were local IRA commanders, including Denis O'Neill who took part in the War of Independence.
"It seems that he, either at that time or after the Treaty, hid away these explosives and he emigrated a couple of years later and it was obviously forgotten about," he said.
"The shed started to fall down."
Yesterday, Mr Keane said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it is believed the factory that made the explosives closed in 1920.
He added: "We think it was hidden by Denis Dinny O'Neill and his comrades around then.
"He emigrated to the US in the mid-20s and it was forgotten about."
Mr Keane called the gardaí, the area was cordoned off and the Defence Forces bomb squad arrived.
In a statement to RTÉ, the Defence Forces said: "Yesterday a team of explosive ordnance disposal experts from the Defence Forces were tasked to Baltimore in response to a request from a member of the public, through An Garda Síochána.
"A cordon was established to isolate the area and allow for a thorough forensic examination of the suspected explosives to be carried out.
"The discovery was assessed as being a collection of historical munitions, and three controlled demolitions were carried out by the Defence Forces on scene.
"All munitions have been disposed of and the cordon is now closed with the area being open to members of the public once again."
