Martello Towers Research Project
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Martello Towers Research Project March 2008 Jason Bolton MA MIAI IHBC www.boltonconsultancy.com Conservation Consultant [email protected] Executive Summary “Billy Pitt had them built, Buck Mulligan said, when the French were on the sea”, Ulysses, James Joyce. The „Martello Towers Research Project‟ was commissioned by Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, with the support of The Heritage Council, in order to collate all known documentation relating to the Martello Towers of the Dublin area, including those in Bray, Co. Wicklow. The project was also supported by Dublin City Council and Wicklow County Council. Martello Towers are one of the most well-known fortifications in the world, with examples found throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom and along the trade routes to Africa, India and the Americas. The towers are typically squat, cylindrical, two-storey masonry towers positioned to defend a strategic section of coastline from an invading force, with a landward entrance at first-floor level defended by a machicolation, and mounting one or more cannons to the rooftop gun platform. The Dublin series of towers, built 1804-1805, is the only group constructed to defend a capital city, and is the most complete group of towers still existing in the world. The report begins with contemporary accounts of the construction and significance of the original tower at Mortella Point in Corsica from 1563-5, to the famous attack on that tower in 1794, where a single engagement involving key officers in the British military became the catalyst for a global military architectural phenomenon. However, the design of the Dublin towers is not actually based on the Mortella Point tower. There was no early master plan and Military Engineers in South Africa, Jersey and West Cork independently developed their own unique designs mirroring the tactical role and application of the Mortella Point Tower. These early towers show gradual refinements in construction being developed by Royal Engineer (RE) Officers. Instead, the Dublin towers are based on the design concept of a well-defended circular fortified gun platform overlooking a strategic coastal point, The architectural design and defensive features of the Dublin towers are based on earlier towers built by British Forces in Minorca between 1798 and 1802, which were in turn based on adaptations and refinements of two towers constructed by the Spanish 1780-1781 as part of the their fortification of Minorca. The report details the construction of the towers, with contemporary accounts from the RE officers, the builders and the local newspapers, followed by consideration of their military significance during the Napoleonic crisis, and their changing fortunes after 1815 when the threat of invasion passed. A „timeline‟ for each tower is provided, showing their construction, armament and re-armament, how they were used, and how that use changed over time as the towers gradually lost their military role and began to be sold off in the early 20th century, together with a thumbnail sketch of the towers as they stand today: ruined, abandoned, restored, altered, forgotten, remembered, adapted, re-used or lost to the waves or progress in times past. Of the 28 locations where the towers and batteries were originally constructed to defend Dublin City, 6 sites are lost, and 1 was re-discovered in 2007. The towers on Bray beach, Corke Abbey and Magharagh Point in Killiney Bay were lost to coastal erosion; Battery No. 8 at Killiney was sold and the defences removed to make way for the railway line; the Glasthule tower and battery were transferred to the Board of Public Works and dismantled in the mid-19th century; and the Dun Leary tower and battery was removed in the 1820s to allow for the railway and harbour. Battery No. 5 in Loughlinstown was believed to have been dismantled in 1812, but survey work in 2007 noted that substantial sections of the defensive walls, the guard house, the powder magazine and other structures stand to full height on the cliff edge overlooking Killiney Bay. All 12 towers constructed north of Dublin City are still in place, and form a unique resource for Fingal. Jason Bolton MA MIAI IHBC Conservation Consultant Contents Executive Summary Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Introduction and Purpose of the Project 2. Significance of the Towers 2.1 Historical Context 2.1.1 The Coastal Tower at Mortella Point, Corsica 2.1.2 Adoption and Development of the “Martello Tower” Building Type 2.1.3 Global Distribution of Martello Towers 2.1.4 The Towers of Minorca and the Canary Islands 2.1.5 Coastal Fortification in Ireland prior to the Construction of Dublin‟s Martello Towers 2.1.6 The Construction of Martello Towers in Dublin and north Wicklow 1804- 1805 2.1.7 The Military Significance of the Towers 1805-1815 2.1.8 The Towers after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, 1815 2.1.9 Martello Towers in the Rest of Ireland 2.1.10 „Bloomsday‟ and Rise of Interest in the Martello Towers 1954-present 2.1.11 Dublin‟s Martello Towers in the 21st Century 2.2 Assessment of Architectural Significance 3. Timeline History & Known Documentation for each of the Towers 3.1 South 1 Bray Head 3.2 South 2 Bray Point 3.3 South 3 Corke Abbey, Bray 3.4 South 4 Magharagh Point, Shankill 3.5 South 5 Loughlinstown Battery 3.6 South 6 Killiney Beach 3.7 South 7 Tara Hill, Killiney 3.8 South 8 Limekiln Battery, Killiney 3.9 South 9 Dalkey Island 3.10 South 10 Bartra Rock, Bullock 3.11 South 11 Sandycove 3.12 South 12 Glasthule 3.13 South 13 Dun Leary 3.14 South 14 Seapoint 3.15 South 15 Williamstown 3.16 South 16 Sandymount 3.17 North 1 Red Rock, Sutton 3.18 North 2 Howth 3.19 North 3 Ireland‟s Eye 3.20 North 4 Carrick, Portmarnock 3.21 North 5 Robswall, Malahide 3.22 North 6 Balcarrick, Donabate 3.23 North 7 Portrane 3.24 North 8 Rush 3.25 North 9 Drumanagh, Loughshinny 3.26 North 10 Shenicks Island, Skerries 3.27 North 11 Red Island, Skerries 3.28 North 12 Balbriggan 4. Primary Sources 4.1 Archaeological Survey of Ireland 4.2 British Library 4.3 Geological Survey of Ireland 4.4 Historical Newspapers 4.4.1 Freeman‟s Journal 4.4.2 Irish Independent 4.4.3 Irish Times 4.4.4 The Times, London 4.5 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 4.6 Irish Architectural Archive 4.7 Military Archives 4.8 National Archives of Ireland 4.9 National Archives of the United Kingdom, London 4.10 National Library of Ireland 4.11 National Library of Scotland 4.12 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland 4.13 Trinity College Dublin, Department of Early Printed Books 4.14 Trinity College Dublin, Manuscripts Department 4.15 Trinity College Dublin, Map Library 4.16 Local Authority Records 4.17 National Inventory of Archictural Heritage Surveys 4.18 National Coastline Survey & Google Earth 5. Bibliography Endnotes Acknowledgements Gordon Barclay, Fortress Study Group Dave Bassett, Fortress Study Group Helena Bergin, Fingal County Council Edward Bourke, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Henry Cairns, Bray Tim Carey, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Bill Clements, Fortress Study Group Margret Constant, Simon‟s Town Museum, South Africa Christiaan Corlett, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Gerry Clabby, Fingal County Council Julie Craig, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Cathal Crimmins, Architect Willie Cummings, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage Joseph Dillon, martellotowers.ie Paul Ferguson, Trinity College Dublin, Map Library Sean Gaynor, Architect Dave Hurwitz, Simon‟s Town Historical Society, South Africa Commandant Victor Laing, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin Simon Lang, Department of Early Printed Books, Trinity College Dublin Michael Lenihan, Bray Public Library Private Alan Manning, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin Shane Maue, Department of Early Printed Books, Trinity College Dublin Liam McAlistair, Genealogical Society of Ireland Rory McKenna, Genealogical Society of Ireland Ross McKensie, Royal Military College of Canada Anna-Maria Mazzucco, Venezia, Italy Anna Meenan, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Michael Merrigan, Genealogical Society of Ireland Kevin Mooney, Department of Spatial Information Systems, Dublin Institute of Technology Dr. Reg Murphy, Museum of Antigua and Barbuda Lisa and the late Desmond Nicholson, Barbuda Niall O‟Donaghue, Martello Tower No 7 Tara Hill, Killiney Frank Prendergast, Department of Spatial Information Systems, Dublin Institute of Technology Marek Prokop, corsica.forhikers.com Nessa Roche, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Cathy Salter-Jansen, Simon‟s Town Museum, South Africa Simone Stephenson, Architect, Bullock Martello Tower Tony Walsh, martellotowers.ie Teresa Zille, Monkstown Abbreviations ASI Archaeological Survey of Ireland BL British Library BWDP Handwritten entries contained within the “British War Department Papers 1944-1965 2/86032” document held in the Military Archives. CUCAP Cambridge University Committee for Air Photography DLRCOCO Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council archives FJ&WN* Freeman‟s Journal and Wicklow Newsletter GSI Geological Survey of Ireland IAA Irish Architectural Archive Ibid. From the latin „ibidem‟ meaing “the same place”, used to provide a reference to a source cited previously in the text. JRSAI Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Kew The National Archives, Kew, London, England MA/LLF Military Archives – Loose-leafed file. MS Manuscript NIAH National Inventory of Architectural Heritage NLI National Library of Ireland NLS National Library of Scotland OPW Office of Public Works OS Ordnance Survey PRONI Public Record Office of Northern Ireland QF Quick-firing RA Royal Artillery RE Royal Engineers RIA Royal Irish Academy RMP Record of Monuments and Places RPS Record of Protected Structures TCD Trinity College Dublin Note: All tables and quotes have been transcribed as accurately as possible from original sources where available.