Martello tower

The National Monuments Service's description

Rush Martello Tower No. 8 (Kerrigan 1995, 174). According to Kerrigan (1995, 168) construction of the Dublin area Martello Towers and their batteries commenced in 1804 under the supervision of Colonel Benjamin Fisher of the Royal Engineers and by December 1805 all towers were armed and complete. Kerrigan (ibid.) recorded that; 'Twelve towers were constructed north of Dublin: each tower mounted one 24-pounder, apart from the tower on Ireland's Eye with two 24-pounders. No batteries were constructed with these towers'. Located in a private garden on Harbour Road overlooking the E coast. Two pillars on the street indicate land entrance to tower. Access now completely overgrown. This is a squat cylindrical tower with a parapet level marked by offsets. The entrance is in the W. It has a rendered finish which has begun to fall away especially around the door. Bricked features have been added to roof. There are flat roofed chalets built around the tower (Kerrigan 1996, 175). It sat within a circular stone boundary wall now visible as a low circular bank and fencing. It was manned by a full complement of artillerymen until the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815. It was then occupied by an invalid Gunner of the Royal artillery until at least 1830. The tower was handed over to the Coast Guard in 1865. It was sold in the 1930's by the Minister for Defence (Bolton et al. 2012, 169).
Martello Tower described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as a; 'Martello tower, c.1805, on a circular plan with tapered profile, having machicolation above former entrance' (NIAH Reg. No. 11324023; https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11324023/rush-martello-tower-fingal)

See attached plans of Rush Martello Tower No. 8 courtesy of the Irish Military Archives - Archival Reference Code: IE/MA/MPD/ad134124-004

Photo © Eirian Evans (cc-by-sa/2.0)

DU008-015----_02 Patrick Healy Collection, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/3110, © South Dublin Libraries, Local Studies Collection, County Library, Town Centre, Tallaght, Dublin 24

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Updated by: Christine Baker

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 24 January 2023

References

Kerrigan P.M. 1995 Castles and fortifications in Ireland 1485-1945. Cork. The Collins Press.

Bolton, J., Carey, T., Goodbody, R., and Clabby, G. 2012 The Martello Towers of Dublin. Dublin. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Fingal County Council.