Palmerston Forts Society

The Redan No.42 February 1998 : The Cork Harbour Defences by Ian Stevenson

For a plan of the defences go to the maps and plans page

Cork is the third city of Ireland being port, ferry and rail terminal, and an industrial centre with a steel works and an oil refinery. The city is an ancient foundation lying on the River Lea and some nine miles up-river from the large basin known as Cork Harbour. The harbour entrance is a narrow channel one and a half miles long with an average width of 1400 yards and is covered by Spike Island immediately to the north of the channel. The main anchorage lies to the east of the harbour and was said to be capable of holding a fleet of nine battleships, two cruisers and twelve destroyers with adequate shelter from all winds.

The strategic importance of Cork began during the Napoleonic War when the naval establishment at Kinsale was transferred to Haulbowline Island and the gunpowder mills, with a large barracks, were built at Ballincollig to the West of the city. The harbour became a naval anchorage from where the entrance to the English Channel could be covered and the blockade of France maintained. Defences had been built in the seventeenth century for the immediate protection of the city and in the mid-eighteenth century a two-tiered fort had been built at Cobh to cover the anchorage. During the American War of Independence the beginnings of what later became Forts Camden and Carlisle were started at the narrowest point to close the harbour entrance.

The Napoleonic War provided the impetus for an extensive number of defence works to protect the harbour and the newly created naval dockyard on Haulbowline Island with its attendant magazine. Five Martello Towers were built, a small fort on Spike Island was started, the inner core of Fort Carlisle was built and Rams Head Fort (later Fort Camden) was remodelled. The Fort on Spike Island gradually evolved into Fort Westmoreland as building continued intermittently well after the end of the War.

There were, however, serious weaknesses in the defences as General Sir John Burgoyne, the Inspector-General of Fortifications, noted in a memorandum in November 1855 where he considered that the harbour 'by nature and position may be a very valuable station for naval resort in war time' and found that the Fort on Spike Island 'does not afford entirely sufficient protection; and therefore the points of entrance very much require to be strengthened by sea batteries within self-defencible forts'.

The scene was set for the Royal Commission to consider the Defences of the Royal Dockyards and Arsenals of the United Kingdom.

''The harbour of Cork possesses great capabilities as a naval port being easy of access and egress and affording a safe anchorage within its waters for a very large fleet of men-of-war and merchant ships. In time of war it would occupy an important naval strategical position for the defence of Ireland, and the west coast of England and Wales; also as an advanced position clear of the channel where a fleet might await orders with the certainly of not being delayed by westerly gales, and where convoys might rendezvous having reached this point of departure by a coasting voyage inside Scilly, thereby avoiding the enemy's cruisers' So stated the Royal Commission in its opening paragraph on Cork. The

Commission proposed that Forts Camden and Carlisle be remodelled with landward defences sufficient to enclose a suitable area for the seaward firing batteries to be extended to cover the southern approach to the harbour entrance and with a number of guns to be able to give a reverse fire on ships sailing up the channel. Fort Westmoreland, on Spike Island, was to be completed with provision for more guns on the southern front of the Fort to cover the harbour entrance. The Commission recommended that two additional works be constructed at Cork Beg and White Point and that the old fort at Cove (Cobh) be remodelled for a single tier of guns. The Commissioners decided against extensive land defences which would entail a large garrison instead they chose to cover suitable landing places to the east and west of the harbour to prevent a flank attack; for immediate land defence the five Martello towers were incorporated into the scheme, a tower was to be built at Ringabella Cove and three in Ballycotton Bay together with a four or five gun work to protect Youghal harbour. Charles Fort at Kinsale was considered sufficient to protect the harbour there.1 The total number of guns required for the defences was put at 90 and the total cost of the recommendations was £120,000, a modest sum when compared to the cost of the defences at Portsmouth (£2,800,000) Plymouth (£3,020,000) and Chatham (£1,350,000).

Of the works recommended by the Royal Commission only those at Forts Camden, Carlisle and Westmoreland were ever completed, none of the other works proposed were built. Charles Fort at Kinsale was abandoned as a coast defence work by 1890 and its mixed armament of rifled and smooth-bore guns was removed; its use thereafter was as a camp for the militia until 1921. In the civil war (1922 to 1923) the barracks inside the Fort was burnt by anti-treaty forces so reducing the Fort to a ruin.

By the end of the eighteen sixties the three forts had been built as planned though not without problems and there remained the construction of the various gun batteries either with armoured shields or on Moncrieff mountings the latter being cheaper than the former. Fort Westmoreland had been completed using mainly convict labour but the remaining work to be done, the construction of 16 gun positions, would be carried out by military labour. The land defences at Fort Carlisle had been started in 1861 using a contractor who went bankrupt early in 1863, in September the War Department took over the work from the Trustees in bankruptcy, using convict labour until the end of 1867 when the convicts were replaced by military and civilian labour. The land front at Fort Camden which included the casemated barracks was started by a contractor in 1862 and the first part was completed behind schedule in 1864; a second contract was made for the completion of the land front early in 1865 but it was terminated two years later due to unsatisfactory work, thereafter military labour was used. The estimated cost of completing the outstanding work at all three works was put at £104,288.

In February 1874 Colonel Jervois was able to report to the Defence Committee that all the required work at Cork had been completed satisfactorily and it only remained for a small amount of work to be done to some batteries so that heavy guns could be mounted, which would be done by the end of the year. The cost of the work done at the three forts was:Fort Westmoreland £ 17,891Fort Carlisle £ 79,695Fort Camden £ 75,979Total £ 173,565

Therefore the defences at Cork exceeded the Royal Commission's estimate by £53,565 in the main due to the increased costs of heavier guns and the provision of armoured shields.

With the introduction of a satisfactory breech loading rifled gun at the beginning of the eighteen eighties the defences of Cork harbour were reviewed; as the harbour entrance was just over 1000 yards wide it was recommended that there should be a minefield laid between Forts Camden and Carlisle covered by batteries of quick firing guns initially 6

pdrs. These batteries were constructed together with a Brennan Torpedo establishment at Fort Camden. The armament of the Forts in 1886 was:

Fort Westmoreland: No 3 Bastion 3 x 12-inch RMLNo 4 Bastion 2 x 11-inch RMLBastions l, 5 and 6 4 x 8-inch SBMovable Armament 2 x 40pdr RBL

Fort Camden:Upper Right Battery 3 x l0-inch RMLLower Right Battery 4 x 10-inch RMLLeft Upper Battery 3 x 7-inch RMLLeft Lower Battery 3 x 7-inch RMLMovable Armament 4 x 40 pdr. and 4 x 20pdr. RBL on rampartsDrill and Practice 2 x 64 pdr RML (on right of 10-inch RML in upper Right Battery)Obsolete Guns 2 x 10-inch SB Mortars

Fort Carlisle:Rupert's Tower Battery 2 x 12-inch RMLNo 4 Battery 3 x 11-inch RML No 2 Battery 2 x 10-inch RMLNo 3 Battery 4 x 7-inch RMLNo 1 Battery 4 x 7-inch RML Movable Armament 3 x 40 pdr. and 4 x 20 pdr. RBLDrill and Practice 2 x 64 pdr. (South Parade) Unappropriated 4 x 10 inch SB Mortars

In the comprehensive review of coastal defences undertaken by the Joint Naval and Military Committee in the last decade of the nineteenth century Cork Harbour was classed as a port of refuge for merchantmen in time of war as well as a naval base. Merchantmen would have the option of sailing to Berehaven on the South-West corner of Ireland or Cork Harbour before being passed into the Channel or the Bristol Channel as necessary. Accordingly the Committee proposed a number of changes to the existing armament:

Fort Westmoreland:two 12-inch RML guns should replace two 11-inch RML guns and three 6-inch BL guns should replace the 7-inch RML guns.

Fort Camden:two 10 inch BL, two 6 inch BL and three 12 pdr QF guns should be mounted in place of some of the existing RML guns.

Fort Carlisle:two 10 inch BL and four 6 inch BL guns should replace a number of the existing RML ones.

This was the beginning of the removal of all the RML guns and their replacement by breech loading artillery. The 6 pdr QF had been installed to cover the minefield at the harbour entrance. The cost of the Committee's proposals was put at £108,350.

The proposals of the Joint Committee were refined at the turn of the Century when the Montgomery Committee considered the defences. All the RML guns were to be removed together with the 6 pdr QF these latter were to be replaced by 12 pdr QF; the 9.2-inch gun was to be substituted for the 10-inch BL so that Fort Camden would receive two 9.2-inch BL, two 6 inch BL and three 12 pdr. QF guns; Fort Carlisle would receive three 9.2-inch BL, four 6-inch BL and three 12 pdr. QF guns; and Fort Westmoreland two 6-inch BL guns. The Committee commented that if it had to design the defences anew it would place the 9.2 inch and 6 inch guns at Roches Point and above Carrick Rock leaving only QF

guns in each of the three forts. The Committee accepted that the Forts were in existence and that a number of batteries had already been built so that to start afresh would entail great expense.

At the turn of the century the harbour defences at Cork were being rebuilt to take breech loading artillery. At Fort Carlisle two new batteries were built and two existing ones converted: the four 7-inch RMLs on Moncrieff mountings in No 1 Battery were dismounted and the Battery rebuilt to take three 12 pdr QF guns, at Rupert's Tower Battery the two 12-inch RMLs were removed and the Battery reconstructed to take two 6-inch Mark VII guns. The new batteries were North Battery for two 6-inch Mark VII guns and South Battery for two 9.2-inch Mark X guns.

Although the Left Upper Battery at Fort Camden had been reconstructed for two 6-inch Mark VI converted guns it was decided not to mount the new mark of 6-inch and the counter bombardment guns in the Fort but to mount them instead in a new work in the area of Carrick Rock, Fort Templebreedy. However the Right Upper and Left Lower Batteries were reconstructed to take a total of five 12 pdr QF guns. At Fort Westmoreland various older marks of 6-inch guns were mounted in Bastions 2 and 4 with the main armament of two 6-inch Mark VII guns being mounted in No 3 Bastion replacing the three 12-inch RMLs.

Whilst the batteries were in the course of construction the Owen Committee made its report in 1905, the chief recommendation being a reduction in the armament. The anti-torpedo boat defences were to consist of the five 12 pdr QF guns at Fort Camden and the three at Fort Carlisle. Only the two six inch batteries at Fort Carlisle were considered necessary together with three 9.2-inch guns for counter-bombardment: two at Fort Templebreedy and one at Fort Carlisle; all the remaining guns were considered unnecessary. The Owen Report was not adopted in full. All the obsolete RML guns as well as the 6 pdr QF had been removed by 1904, the Brennan Torpedo establishment at Fort Camden was closed in 1906 and by 1908 all the earlier marks of six inch gun had gone with the exception of the two in the Upper Left Battery at Fort Camden which were retained as decoy or dummy guns.

A glimpse of the defences at Cork can be gleaned from the Inspector-General's Reports such as that by Major-General Dalton, Inspector of the Royal Garrison Artillery, on a visit of inspection to Cork at the end of June 1907:'I witnessed practice from the two 6-inch Mark VII BL guns at North Battery Fort Carlisle by the Waterford Artillery. The series fired by the Waterford Artillery was most unsatisfactory. The regiment had done less than two weeks of its annual training, and the detachments had not received sufficient instruction to justify their attempting any practice, except perhaps elementary with aiming rifle ammunition.' 'No hits were obtained owing to a combination of bad ranging and bad laying,'

Further on in his report Major-General Dalton commented:'I regret to say that I found the works generally in Cork Harbour in an untidy state. Guns and stores were dirty, and stores which might have been kept under cover were lying about exposed to the weather. There are not sufficient arm racks provided, and no attempt had been made to keep the men's carbines in a handy and dry place. They seemed to have been thrown down anywhere about the emplacements. Men sleep in all sorts of places owing to lack of adequate accommodation in shelters, therefore bedding and clothes are found lying about mixed up with stores, and tidiness and order suffer'.2

A year later things had improved when Major-General Dalton reported:'Last year I had to comment somewhat unfavourably on the state of the Royal Garrison Artillery in this Command. I am happy to be able to state that I found everything in a much more satisfactory state, both as regards discipline, appearance, shooting and care of armament etc'.Needless to say there had been some changes in command of the Royal Garrison

Artillery and the Cork Defences Command.By August 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War the defences at Cork Harbour were composed of:

Fort Templebreedy2 x 9.2-inch MkX

Fort Camden: Right Upper Battery 3 x 12pdr QF Left Lower Battery 2 x 12pdr QF

Fort Westmoreland: No 3 Bastion 2 x 6-inch Mk VII

Fort Carlisle:No 1 Battery 3 x 12pdr QFNorth Battery 2 x 6-inch Mk VII

Rupert's Tower Battery 2 x 6-inch Mk VIISouth Battery 2 x 9.2-inch Mk X (1 mounted in reserve)

During the war Cork Harbour was used as a naval base covering the western approaches and dealing with the U-boat menace. Because there was little likelihood of a major German naval attack some changes were made in the armament at Fort Carlisle: North Battery was disarmed, a 12 pdr QF was removed from No 1 Battery and a 9.2 inch gun from South Battery. A boom and anti-submarine net was established to the east of Spike Island and to protect it a 12 pdr QF and one of the decoy guns were removed from Fort Camden; they were returned to the Fort when the war ended.

The immediate aftermath of the First World War posed a political problem: Home Rule for Ireland, which had been agreed in 1914 but suspended for the duration of the war. The whole matter was mishandled from the start as the British Government never gave sufficient thought or attention to the problem until 1921, the result was a guerrilla war between the Irish Nationalists and the British; Cork was a major centre of nationalist activity. A truce was called to the fighting in July 1921 which was followed by negotiations that resulted in the signing of the Treaty that established the Irish Free State as a dominion. By a clause in the Treaty the harbour defences at Cork, Berehaven and Lough Swilly were to remain in the control of British Goverment(3) and became known as the Treaty Ports; they were to become an irritant to Anglo-lrish relations during the inter-war years especially after Mr De Valera became prime minister of the Irish Free State in 1932. The defences at the Treaty Ports could not be extended or repositioned without the consent of the Free State Government and whether they could be used during hostilities depended on that Government's attitude at the appropriate time; with Mr De Valera's advent to power that consent was unlikely to be forthcoming.

The dockyard at Haulbowline Island was handed over to the Irish Government in 1923. The harbour defences were garrisoned by regular troops but little was done to the Forts beyond maintaining the existing armament. Some changes came in 1927 when the two old six inch guns at Fort Camden were scrapped and two 12 pdr QF guns in the Right Upper Battery were transferred to the practice battery at Fort Templebreedy which became known as Laughorne Battery. The remaining two 12 pdr QF guns in No 1 Battery at Fort Carlisle were dismounted the battery having acquired the name of Marlborough Battery. At Fort Westmoreland and Fort Templebreedy the existing guns were replaced by guns of more recent manufacture. Cork Harbour was classed as a commercial port and a naval anchorage of minor importance which no doubt contributed to the defences being maintained with the existing armament and no modem weapons being recommended.Each of the Forts had a mobile armament which consisted of Lewis, Vickers and 18 pdr

field guns distributed as follows:The garrison in 1924 totalled 32 officers and 425 NCOs and other ranks.

During the inter war years the value of maintaining the Treaty Ports was considered on a number of occasions by the British Defence Chiefs. In a potential war with Germany, the Royal Navy required Cork Harbour as a base for anti-submarine units and mine-sweepers to cover the western approaches; if Cork Harbour was not available for any reason anti-submarine units could be used from existing bases in England but because of the extra distance to be covered would only be able to patrol for a shorter time and distance as compared to operating out of Cork. If the potential enemy was France Cork Harbour and Berehaven were required as bases for the main fleet. There was a new factor to be considered in the defence arrangements for the Treaty Ports: both ships and existing facilities at the Ports were vulnerable to air attack which had not been properly appreciated when the Treaty Ports were reserved to Britain. All three Ports required adequate air protection yet it was impossible to construct airfields with their ancillary equipment within the confines of the Forts or War Department property; there was a further complication in that there was no suitable terrain for the construction of airfields within a reasonable distance of each Port especially Berehaven.

There was the attitude of the Free State Government to be considered, in any future conflict; if it was hostile then the Treaty Ports could not be used to their full advantage, unless the surrounding hinterland had been seized and occupied which would entail using troops that could be better used elsewhere. Any occupation would alienate the majority of the people in the Free State causing an added problem in that the Treaty Ports would have to be supplied by sea rather than by land.

In the light of all these considerations the advice of the Defence Chiefs to successive governments was the establishing of friendly relations with the Irish Free State with a view that in time a satisfactory agreement on the use of the Treaty Ports, especially in time of war, could be concluded.

The political uncertainty that overhung the Treaty Ports affected their priority for modernisation, which was very low on the list of the naval bases and commercial ports. Only at Berehaven were new defences planned with new weapons but nothing materialised. At Cork no new weapons were envisaged instead all the 12 pdr QF were removed from the approved armament and relegated to practice status.

With the advent to power in 1932, after winning the election, of the Fianna Fail Party, Mr. de Valera became prime minister; he started a policy of severing ties with and distancing the Free State from the United Kingdom and this resulted in a period of strained relations between the two Governments. A new constitution was introduced in 1937 whereby the Free State (Eire) became a republic in all but name. As Mr. de Valera laid claim to the Treaty Ports, as well as Northern Ireland, he was not prepared to enter into any defence agreement with the United Kingdom, the most that he was prepared to offer was a declaration that Eire would not allow itself to be used as a base for attacks on the United Kingdom.

The impasse was broken in March 1938 when the British Government announced that the Treaty Ports would be returned to Eire unconditionally by the end of the year.(4) In May the British and Irish military authorities met to discuss what equipment was to be handed over. As far as the Cork Harbour defences were concerned Fort Templebreedy presented a problem because both the 9.2 inch guns were unserviceable: one had steel choke and the other a cracked tube. The War Office agreed to repair the gun with steel choke by the date of the hand-over of the defences and replace the other gun with the reserve one from South Battery at Fort Carlisle by the end of the year. The harbour defences at Cork were taken over by the Irish authorities on 11th July 1938 when Mr. de Valera, his son and the Irish Military chiefs came down to take part in the hand-over ceremony. At Cork the armament taken over was:

Fort Carlisle:Rupert's Tower Battery 2 x 6-inch Mk VIISouth Battery 1 x 9.2-inch Mk X

Fort Westmoreland: No 3 Bastion 2 x 6-inch Mk VII

Fort Templebreedy:2 x 9.2-inch MkX

Also taken over were the searchlights below each of the four Forts and some obsolete 12 pdr. QF guns. Just prior to the take over of the Forts the Irish Army formed its own coast artillery service with the headquarters at Spike Island; by October the service consisted of six coast batteries three of which were based at Cork together with the headquarters. It had been agreed with the War Office that a cadre of three officers, eighteen NCOS and six other ranks should remain in Ireland to assist in the training of the coast artillery personnel.

Within a year of the hand-over of the Treaty Ports the Second World War broke out and Ireland decided to remain neutral but nonetheless the army was mobilised which included the coast artillery. During the war there were a number of changes in the defences; at Fort Templebreedy a dummy 9.2 inch position was built to the south of the Fort whilst the two 12 pdr QF guns were transferred to Fort Carlisle. The biggest change was at Fort Westmoreland where the six inch battery at No 3 Bastion was dispersed: one gun being mounted in a casemated position in No 4 Bastion and the other in a similar position in No 2 Bastion, to give greater protection from air and sea attack. A new battery observation post was built in front of and below the old one. The work was carried out by the Irish Army Engineers between December 1942 and March 1944 when both guns were mounted. The magazines built for the old six inch guns mounted in Bastions 2 and 4 at the turn of the century were utilised for the casemated guns. Also mounted on the ramparts of the old Fort were four anti-aircraft guns.

When the war ended in 1945 the Irish Army was reduced to a peacetime strength. Fort Templebreedy was dismantled in 1946 all the stores and ammunition being taken to Spike Island and the guns put into care and maintenance; after a number of years had elapsed the guns were dismounted and scrapped. The Coast Defence Service was dissolved in 1949 though the two six inch guns at Rupert's Tower Battery were used for training and practice by the Irish Army Artillery for a good many years.

It is not proposed to describe the earlier works that were erected to defend Cork Harbour such as the Martello Towers and Cove Fort but to concentrate on the four major forts that were built after 1860 even though one could not be described as a Palmerstonian Fort and was never envisaged by the Royal Commission.

Fort Templebreedy is included for completeness; it was built to the south of Weaver Point between 1904 and 1909, in the latter year the two 9.2 inch guns were mounted in the Fort. The work consists of two concrete batteries one for 9.2 inch guns and the other for two six inch guns which were never mounted, this battery was known as Kilcolta Battery. In between these two batteries was an extensive practice battery for six guns which has been covered over by vegetation, it is believed that Laughorne Battery was part of this site. In the cliffs to the North-East of the battery was a further practice battery for QF guns which it is believed no longer exists due to erosion, on either side of the battery were two searchlights together with their engine house. At the entrance to the Fort is the caretaker's quarters and opposite is the engine room and oil store covered by an earthen embankment apart from its front face; nearby was the Port War Signal Station and Fire Command building which has now gone. This northern part of the Fort including Kilcolta Battery has been laid out as a pitch and put course. At the southern end of the site is the

9.2 inch battery with its empty emplacements, underground magazines and shelters, immediately behind the gun positions is a raised embankment with the fire command post built into it. A few buildings remain of the hutted camp used by the Irish Naval Service.

Fort Camden is the only purely Palmerstonian creation of the Cork Defences, the other two forts were adaptations and extensions to existing structures. The Fort is positioned on Rams Head covering the harbour entrance with Fort Carlisle opposite. The road to the Fort is covered by the casemated barracks on its immediate approach to the entrance where it crosses a deep rock cut ditch that reaches to the water's edge and is covered by a two-tiered musketry gallery in the casemated barracks. Immediately across the ditch is the entrance to the Fort with the guardhouse to the right. The casemated barracks occupy the north-east comer of the Fort, it is single storey with provision for artillery on the roof mounted in three sections with two expense magazines acting as traverses, each section containing positions for two guns and tiered from west to east. The roof is overgrown, both the magazines survive and it is the only section of the ramparts where the individual gun positions are distinguishable, helped by the embrasures.

The terreplein, covering the landward side of the Fort, continues in an arc from the north-west to the south with some five expense magazines which can just be made out in the vegetation and these are shown on the plans. It is apparent from the plans that there were no fixed positions for the guns but a movable armament was provided for the terreplein with two gun ramps. The landward side is surrounded by a deep ditch 40 feet deep and 28 feet wide, this is covered at the centre point by a two-storied caponier for a total of eight guns with flanking musketry galleries in the usual fashion. As can be seen from the armament return four of the special 32 pdr. SBBL guns were shown as being mounted in the caponier at the turn of the century. The ditch on reaching the southern comer of the Fort then slopes sharply down to the shore; at the point where the ditch starts to descent to the shore there is a musketry gallery to cover a possible ascent from the water.

At the southern comer of the Fort is another section of casemated barrack and it is from here that steps lead down to the flanking gallery that covers the ditch. Within the area enclosed by the ramparts is the main body of the Fort with free standing store and barrack buildings for officers and men one of which now houses the caretaker. Various hutments survive some in better condition than others. In the centre is the caphouse for the spiral staircase that goes down to the underground magazine which consists of only one large vaulted chamber. In this upper tier of the Fort there are three gun batteries: Left Upper Battery, originally built for three 7-inch RMLs and later reconstructed for two 6-inch guns that later became the dummy or decoy guns, Right Upper Battery originally built for three 10 inch RML and later reconstructed for three 12 pdr. QF guns with one of the RML positions surviving intact, on the southern flank of this battery and at a higher level is Upper Practice Battery for two guns.

From the Left Upper Battery a zig-zag traverse leads down to the lower tier of the Fort and the dock, the approach to which is covered by a musketry gallery. Approximately 150 yards from the dock in a north westerly direction is the site of the Brennan Torpedo installation, the rooms or chambers for the machinery are extent and built into the cliff with traces of the rails leading into the water. After the Brennan installation was closed the quay was extended thereby blocking the exits with one exit now completely obstructed with rubble due to sea erosion. At the dock are the buildings of the submarine mining establishment. Just before reaching the dock there is an impressive vaulted entrance that leads to the Left Lower Battery where there were three 7-inch RML guns on Moncrieff mountings; this is very obvious, even though, when the battery was reconstructed each emplacement was filled with concrete for a 12 pdr. QF. Passing behind the gun line and through another vaulted entrance is the casemated Right Lower Battery for four 10-inch RMLs complete with armoured shields and sloping iron frontages. Above this battery on its northern flank is the very overgrown remains of the minefield battery for three 6 pdr.

QF guns. In front of the Right Lower Battery, just above sea level was a musketry parapet to prevent escalade; later two searchlight positions were built just behind the parapet to work in conjunction with the QF guns and the searchlights at Fort Carlisle.

On the eastern side of the harbour entrance is White Bay to the north of which on a protruding headland lies Fort Carlisle. A ditch some thirty feet deep and forty feet wide along the headland cuts the Fort off on the landward side. The ditch is covered by three single storey musketry caponiers built of concrete, these are very plain and utilitarian compared with caponier at Fort Camden and those at contemporary English Forts. The terreplein is simple in construction even though overgrown and could easily accommodate the movable armament allotted to the Fort. Fort Carlisle is in essence an enclosed position for eight separate gun batteries, a mid-nineteenth century equivalent of Fort Amherst. The only core is the Napoleonic fort at the northern end just inside the entrance; the Napoleonic work is a triangular shaped with one full bastion, two demi-bastions and a semi-circular one which originally contained the main seaward firing battery, and is now a saluting battery with three 12 pdr. QF guns.

Beside the southern demi-bastion of the old fort a zig-zag traverse leads down to the lower level of the Fort with the majority of the Victoria batteries. When the traverse levels out at its northern end there is a small pier and an entrance to the Fort constructed of concrete complete with loopholes and a parapet for musketry covering the pier. Moving south along the covered way from the pier is the site of the 6 pdr. QF battery which is now invisible due to vegetation, in front of this battery were three searchlights that covered the minefield and operated in conjunction with the two on the opposite side of the harbour entrance at Fort Camden. The next battery is No 1 where there were four 7-inch RML guns on Moncrieff mountings, later the battery was reconstructed to take three 12 pdr. QF guns and the shield for one of them still survives. The battery was covered by putting a layer of concrete over the top of each open pit with the gun positioned on top, the old magazines being utilised for the QF guns. On leaving the battery there is a short vaulted tunnel with a flight of stairs that leads down to No 2 Battery which is a casemated one for two 10 inch RML guns firing through armoured shields. On leaving the tunnel there is No 3 Battery for four 7-inch RMLs on Moncrieff mountings, the Battery was never altered and the emplacements remain open and can be entered, there are short side tunnels connecting the emplacements with each other with the usual magazines leading off.

On leaving No 3 Battery and through another vaulted tunnel No 4 Battery is reached, a casemated one for three 10-inch RML guns firing through armoured shields, the battery was later converted to an oil store. From behind No 3 Battery a long flight of steps leads to the upper level of the Fort where the breech loading batteries were built, and it is also the level on which the Napoleonic one was constructed.

To the south of the old fort is North Battery for two six inch guns, the emplacements are clearly visible but the underground magazine stores and shelters are virtually buried; continuing southwards is Rupert's Tower Battery built originally for two 12-inch RML guns and later remodelled for two 6-inch mark VII guns which still remain in position with the DRF and fire command positions built on the bank overlooking the battery. Adjacent to Rupert's Tower Battery the Fort is divided internally by a ditch that reaches to the shoreline, the ditch is covered by a flanking gallery where it changes direction to the shoreline to prevent an assault directly from the water. On the south side of the ditch lies South Battery where two 9.2-inch guns were mounted on the bank behind the Battery are the command post and position finding cell. The Battery is complete with underground shelters and magazine though regrettably no guns. At the southern end of the promontory the surrounding ditch culminates in another flanking gallery.

Fort Westmoreland occupies the high ground on Spike Island, it is a regular six bastioned work surrounded by a ditch, originally there were two entrances on the northern side with the main armament being mounted on the southern side in bastions 2, 3 and 4. On the

northern side there were two sets of casemates that linked bastions 5, 6 and 1 and it was these that the Royal Commission recommended be completed when they incorporated the Fort into the defences. The casements are now the cells of the prison establishment that occupies the Fort. The entrance gateway is a pleasingly plain one in a classical style without ornament or decoration. Two barrack blocks on the western side of the Fort remain as shells but the old military detention block and the main magazine remain intact in No 6 Bastion; other internal buildings survive and these are used by the prison administration. It was No 3 Bastion that contained the Fort's main armament originally three 12-inch RML guns which were replaced by two 6-inch mark VII guns; due to the alterations made by the Irish Army during the war and security arrangements by the prison authorities nothing remains of the positions. On Bastions 2 and 4 can be seen the casemates for a 6-inch mark VII gun constructed by the Irish Army during the war with the added bonus of a six inch gun in each casemate. Underneath the old magazines and stores were adapted to serve the guns.

After the Irish authorities took over the harbour forts in July 1938 the official names of three of them were changed: Fort Camden became Fort Meagher, Fort Carlisle became Fort Davis and Fort Westmoreland became Fort Mitchel. There is no automatic right of public access to the Forts and the official names must be borne in mind when applying for permission to visit. Fort Camden is owned by the Cork County Council who have a caretaker residing on site, Forts Carlisle and Templebreedy are owned by the Department of Defence whilst Fort Westmoreland is owned by the Department of Justice.

AcknowledgementsThe writer wishes to acknowledge his debt to the following institutions and individuals without whose help and assistance this paper could not have been written:The Irish Department of Defence, Dublin The Irish Department of Justice, Dublin The Cork County Council Commandant V. Laing, Military Archives, Dublin The Governor and Deputy Governor, Fort Mitchel Prison Captain D. Harvey, 23rd Infantry Battalion, Cork Lieutenants S. O'Brien and S. Walsh, Irish Naval Service, Cork Mr. Patrick Woods

ReferencesCastles and Fortifications in Ireland 1485 to 1945 by P. M. Kerrigan Haulbowline Spike and Rocky Islands by N Brunicardi Material in: Public Record Office, Kew M.O.D. Library, Whitehall The Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin

Notes1. Guns at Charles Fort, Kinsale: 2 x 64 pdr RML 4 x 32pdr. SB 6 x 24pdr. SB2. Quite unlike the PAV 3. See Appendix4. s2(2) Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938

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