Aughinish Tower
| Aughinish Martello Tower | |
|
County Clare | |
|---|---|
 Aughinish Tower | |
| Type: | Martello tower |
| Location | |
| Location: | 53°10’7"N, 9°4’0"W |
| Village: | Aughinish |
| History | |
| Built 1812-1816 | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | private |
Aughinish Tower is a Martello tower at Aughinish, County Clare.[1][2] It was built as a signal and gun tower to defend Ireland against invasion by the French during the Napoleonic Wars.
The tower's construction dates back to March 1811 when six acres of land for the site was purchased from a Major Lynch. While the Aughinish Tower is the same design as the Finavarra Tower, its small ordnance storage building no longer exists. This structure was previously recorded as being located just west of the tower. The tower itself had accommodation for one officer and thirty-nine men on the first floor. It also contained a basement water tank, a magazine, cellar and store at ground level.[3] An original twenty four pound cannon was still in place until 1992.[4]
It is used as a private residence, with a steel stairway erected and secured to the outside of the tower.
References
- ↑ Lewis, Samuel (1837). A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. S. Lewis & Co. http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/f.php. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
- ↑ Barry, T.B. (1987). The Archaeology of Medieval Ireland. Routledge. https://books.google.com/books?id=GXGfvlJ5csQC&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=Aughinish+Tower&source=web&ots=bcCkF3yHlO&sig=59pLvez2T7VlEP4_EKWcBSGhCsY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
- ↑ Kerrigan, Paul M.. "Fortifications in the Shannon Estuary and Galway Bay". http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/fortifications/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
- ↑ Walsh, David (2004). Oileain. Pesda Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=ax9li9GGzcsC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=Aughinish+Tower&source=web&ots=tz3bPkJyTn&sig=LW4oluv0q_9a1iUcG5dis5qmSis&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
