While the Shannon family were sleeping their house on the slopes of Mount Leinster in Carlow was bombed during World War II. At about 6.45am eight bombs were dropped near the village of Knockroe in South Carlow. The bombs appear to have been dropped in a straight line along the mountain slopes. The third bomb directly hit the residence of the Shannon family. James Shannon, his son Raymond together with his brother Patrick and Patrick’s sons James and Michael were asleep in the East end of the house. Mary Ellen, John’s wife, their daughter Kathleen and Bridget Shannon were sleeping in the West end of the house. Mary Ellen, Kathleen and Bridget were killed in the bombing. James and Michael were seriously injured. Hitler’s government excuse for the bombing, as for other bombings in Ireland, was that the pilot mistook the area for the west coast of Britain. However is it generally accepted that the pilot simply wished to offload the bombs in order to make a safe return to base. Hitler’s government later provided some compensation to help rebuild the house. Three members of the Shannon family lost their lives when a German bomb made a direct hit on their home in South Carlow in the year 1941
– Courtesy of otd.ie “On this Day”