Battery

The National Monuments Service's description

The tower listed as No.5 was a Battery and the ruins are still in place. 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 (1995, 170) recorded that; ‘The towers and batteries south of Dublin are numbered from 1 to 16, but there were only fourteen towers, as at two locations there were batteries only, while several of the towers were close to adjacent batteries’.
Battery No. 5 was described by Turner (1983, 94) as; Although there was never a tower here, one was certainly under consideration, and the remains of a battery are still to be seen. The site is on the townland of Shanganagh, on top of the cliffs, a little south of the mouth of the Loughlinstown river. A tree-lined path known as Battery Wood leads to it from the railway line through new Council houses [Shanganagh Cliffs Estate]. The remains of the battery seem to be as they were in Joyce's time when he considered the position "very ill. chosen .. . as no portion of the structure, owing to rising ground in front, commands a view of the shore, etc. Remains of the dwelling for the accommodation of the garrison may still be seen, and underneath is a vaulted chamber probably the ammunition store". In 1815, when Napoleon was safely out of the way, the officers of H.M. Ordnance advertised for "proposals from persons willing to purchase the materials of the Battery No. 5.. . together with one acre on which the same stands. The Battery consists of 3 apartments, one 14.88m x 6.40m fitted up as an Officer's Guard Room. The road to the Battery is along the strand at low water'. Outline of the Battery and its walls are visible on Digital Globe orthoimage taken between 2011-13. Battery remains on cliff-edge location are clearly visible on Digital Globe orthoimages taken 2023 and 26-/04/2021

Images courtesy of http://www.photopol.com/martello/killiney_bay.html

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 24 January 2023

References

Turner, K. 1983 If you seek monuments: a guide to the antiquities of the barony of Rathdown. Rathmichael Historical Society.

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