Commandant Lar Joye coordinated the successful and enjoyable Field Trip Dublin Defences, which was based in the Killiney Martello Tower, by kind permission of its owner Mr Niall O’Donoghue.
Martello Tower Number 7, on Tara Hill, Killiney Bay, is unique, as is its location as an enfilading tower. The Tower has been fully restored by its owner, to include a proofed, working King George 3rd Blomefield 18-pounder cannon mounted on a traversing carriage on the crown of the Tower.
There is a three-gun battery below the tower, with a glacis.
There is also a coach house, artillery store, tool shed, and gunner’s cottage, with resident gunner and gunpowder store.
No. 7 Tower was part of the defences of Killiney Bay against a possible French invasion in the period 1804 to 1815. The other towers and batteries have suffered a variety of fates, but this one was rescued and restored to its original glory and function by Niall O’Donoghue.
.For Video see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ-v3AUw7n
The comprehensive and informative tour of the Martello Tower was conducted by Mr Niall O’Donoghue, assisted by Mr Pól Ó Duibhir.
Mr Pól Ó Duibhir’s article on the Martello Tower, which includes the restoration process, is published in the Autumn / Winter edition of the Dublin Historical Record, see:
https://photopol.com/martello/martello_dhr_winter_2017.pdf
Photographs courtesy of Dave Betson, Padraic McDunphy and Paul Pakenham. For slide show, please click on a photograph,
