Signal tower

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on an area of level terrain that rises gently to the NW and to the WSW, c. 275m WSW of the tip of Baginbun Point, c. 2.1kms SSE of the town of Fethard, and c. 52m NNW of the coastline at its closest point (OD c. 27m). The local area consists of a mixture of arable and pastureland defined by linear field boundaries with some rough ground located c. 80m to the N adjacent to the coastline, and with low rocky sea cliffs at the coastline adjacent to the S, and to the W and E of site. The site has unobstructed views in all directions. The adjacent signal stations were located at Hook Head Lighthouse (WX054-010001-), located c. 8.87kms to the SW\SSW, where the signal station was accommodated at the existing lighthouse (WX054-010----), which is visible in good weather, and at Crossfarnoge (WX051-011----), located c. 16.275kms to the E and just to the SW of the village of Kilmore Quay, now demolished. The site of this signal station at Baginbun Point is located adjacent (c. 275m) to the WSW of a coastal promontory fort (WX050-015001-) located at the tip of Baginbun Point, c. 240m ESE\SE of impressive linear earthworks (WX050-015002-) erected by the Anglo-Norman in 1170, and c. 2.25kms SSW of St. Mogue’s Church (WX050-011001-) located in the town of Fethard.

The signal station at Baginbun was located at Baginbun Martello tower (WX050-027----), which was under construction in 1805 (Kerrigan 1995, 276). The signal crew were accommodated within the tower complex, and the signal mast, erected by 1805, was likely the only thing specifically constructed for the signal station (Kerrigan 1995, 161, 276). The NIAH entry (Reg. No. 15705009) describes the Martello tower as a ‘freestanding single-bay two-stage Martello tower.’ Two single-storey, flat-roof additions have been built against the exterior wall of the tower, one on the E, the other on the W. These additions are not shown on any of the first three editions of the Ordnance Survey maps, surveyed 1839-40, 1902-5 and 1921 respectively. The additions must therefore have been constructed after 1921, possibly after 1947 when the Martello Tower was sold to a private owner and converted into a residence (Clements 2013, 76). The Martello tower is located to the centre of the SSE end of a sub-rectangular-plan enclosure (ext. dims c. 130m WSW-ENE x c. 110ms NNW-SSE), defined by an earthen bank and ditch that is open to the coastal end to the SSE.

The signal station 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: 04/10/22

References

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

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

Clements, B. 2013. Billy Pit had them built. Napoleonic towers in Ireland. Stamford: The Holliwell Press.