An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie 18 | By WESLEY BOURKE PhOtOS By CPL NEVILLE COUGHLAN M ost of our readers will have heard of Cathal Brugha Bks, Dublin; Sarsfield Bks, Limerick; Lynch Camp, Kilworth; or Aiken Bks, Dundalk, but there are many other lesser known outposts. the Defence Forces spans the whole of the country and over this and the next three issues we are going to take a look at the posts, units, and personnel operating at the opposite ends of the compass. Our journey will bring you from Fort Dunree at the top of Co Donegal to Bere Island Military training Camp in Bantry Bay, Co Cork, and from the Dublin Naval Reserve Unit in Dún Laoghaire to the reservists of C Coy, 1 Cn Cois, based in Clifden Co Galway. Our first stop takes us to Fort Dunree overlooking the wild and beautiful Lough Swilly, seven miles north of Buncrana, on the Inishowen Peninsula. Today the fort is no longer an occupied post but rather a military museum. However, as it is still owned by the Dept of Defence the areas of the fort outside the museum are still used by units based in the west and north-west to conduct FIBUA and public order training. Taking the time out to show us around the fort was Terry Tedstone. Fort Dunree (An Dún Riabhach, meaning Fort of the Heathers) is located on one of the most majestic sites in Ireland. The scenery and wildlife tends to make visitors forget they are standing on a formidable military outcrop that bristles with decommissioned coastal defence guns. A two-hour drive from Finner Camp will leave you standing overlooking the cliffs of the peninsula - next stop Iceland. The fort dominates Lough Swilly, a place of huge strategic importance for centuries. The Norsemen, the Anglo-Normans and the Gallowglass mercenaries from Scotland all used the lough as a route into the country. The Flight of the Earls, O'Neill and O'Donnell, took place from Rathmullan in September 1607 and Wolfe Tone was taken under naval arrest there and brought to Buncrana in 1798. Near to the spot where Wolfe Tone was brought ashore in 1798 a small fort was erected by the Royal Navy as part of a series of defences around the lough to guard against the pos- sible return of a French invasion fleet. These included artillery batteries at Rathmullan, Knockalla, Macomish, Dunree, Inch, and Ned's Point. In late 1895 the fort was modernised and enlarged with the building of the Top Fort on Dunree Hill. Two 4.7-inch QF guns were placed below; these were later replaced by 12-pdr QF guns, and two BL 6-inch MkVII guns in a battery above. The top of the hill overlooking the site was walled in to form a redoubt. During World War I the fort stood guard against possible German naval incursions into the North Atlantic. Defences around Lough Swilly were increased and units were sent to Fort Dunree, Lenan Fort, and the naval base at Buncrana known as HMS Hecla. Admiral Lord Jellicoe's fleet anchored in Lough Swil- ly prior to engaging the German navy at the Battle of Jutland. On the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Fort Dunree, along with the nearby Lenan Fort and its 9.2-inch guns, was one of

• Cover