Signal tower

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on level terrain (exact site unknown) on a low-lying site adjacent to E of the coastline, and c. 3.6kms to the ESE of the town of Delgany and c. 3.5kms SSE of Greystones (OD c. 22m). Land rises very gradually inland to the W with obstructed views in all directions. The surrounding landscape is characterised by arable and pastureland defined generally by linear field boundaries, and by a long sandy shoreline with an area of sandy hinterland located adjacent to the E (now occupied by railway line). The adjacent stations in the signal station\tower chain were located at Wicklow Head (WI031-112001-), located c. 17.3kms to the SSE, where the signal crew are thought to have been accommodated at an existing lighthouse, and at Dalkey Hill, Dublin (DU023-072----), located c. 17.1kms to the NNW, where the signal tower survives in an altered format. The possible\approximate site of this signal station at Ballygannon is located c. 1.9kms to the NE of a church site (WI013-029001-) with an associated graveyard (WI013-029002-), located close to the centre of the village of Kilcoole, and c. 3.5kms ESE of another church site (WI013-004001-) with an associated graveyard (WI013-004002-) located to the S end of the village of Delgany.

The signal station\tower at Ballygannon Signal Station has been demolished, and its exact position and its original form is not known. It is not depicted on the Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map, surveyed 1838, which suggests it was removed at an early date. Kerrigan established that construction of a signal tower here began in 1805, and that it was still under construction in 1806. It is not clear if the signal tower was ever completed (Kerrigan 1995, 276). Kerrigan established that the signal mast had been erected by April 1806 (Kerrigan ibid).

It is notable that this signal station\tower was demolished by the time of the Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map series. This also occurred at a number of signal station sites in County Waterford and at least one site in County Wexford, which is in contrast to the situation with the contemporary signal station sites along the NW, W and SW coastlines. There were concerns expressed (in writing) in 1811 by a Mr. Pope, Waterford Agent of the London Assurance Company, that the disused signal station\towers along the Waterford coastline were causing confusion for seafarers who were mistaking these for lighthouses (particularly Hook Head, Wexford) in poor weather, which led to a number of shipwrecks along the Waterford coastline (around Tramore in particular) in c. 1810. These concerns were apparently acted upon with the demolition of a signal station somewhere close to Tramore (probably at Brownstown Head; WA026-098----) by the end of 1811. Perhaps something similar happened with signal station at Ballygannon, Wicklow.

The signal tower was part of a system of over 80 signal stations constructed by the British Board of Ordnance in the first decade of the nineteenth century to warn of the approach of a French invasion fleet. Signalling between sites was accomplished using a naval signal post. The system formed a continuous chain from Malin Head in Donegal to Dublin Bay. It was abandoned by the mid-1810s when the treat of a French invasion diminished (Kerrigan 1995, 157-66).

Compiled by: Stuart Rathbone

Uploaded on: 10/10/22

References

Rathbone, S. 2020. ‘The Construction, Survival and use of Signal Defensible Guard Houses in Connacht and Ulster’; unpublished PhD Thesis, Institute of Technology, Sligo

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