Thousands of forgotten world war sites in Northern Ireland have been collated in a new resource.
The Defence Heritage Record details more than 4,500 locations from north Co Down to the north coast.
The sites were constructed in response to the World War I, World War II and the Cold War.
They include barrage anchors on the Stormont Estate, east of Belfast, which were designed to float large-scale balloons to obstruct attacking aircraft.
The city saw an intense blitz by the Luftwaffe in April 1941 which targeted military and manufacturing sites and claimed 900 lives.
Staff from the Historic Environment Record carried out two years of field research to identify and record all the sites.
— Communities NI (@CommunitiesNI) November 13, 2024
Northern Ireland's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons highlighted locations dotted around the countryside, often passed by many people unaware of their significance.
"From the search lights on the Belfast to Bangor coastal path to the pill boxes on the north coast, or the airfields hidden in our landscape, these sites are important heritage assets which tell the story of Northern Ireland's vital contribution to these conflicts," he said.
"This new record is an important historical resource which has recorded these sites for posterity as some may be vulnerable to decay or destruction.
"The work has also identified some of the most important, rare and best-preserved sites as warranting statutory protection as Scheduled Historic Monuments or listed buildings, ensuring their longer-term survival."
The Defence Heritage Record is accessible to everyone through the department’s online Historic Environment Map viewer.
