Battery

Napoleonic fortification situated in rough pasture (45m/146ft OD), at a strategic location 150m W of the River Shannon as it flows from Lough Ree into Athlone town. Athlone Canal 40m to W. Annotated 'Battery' on the 1837 OS 6-inch map and depicted as a D-shaped structure (approx. dims. 70m NW-SE; 25m NE-SW) with straight side at E and polygonal side formed from three linear faces of equal length on the W side. A triangular-shaped building annotated ‘Guard Ho.’ is shown straddling the straight side of the D-shaped battery. Artillery fortification described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as a free-standing battery defined by a ditch and two ramps which form a concentric D-shaped earthwork of earth and stone. No associated buildings are extant. Structure was built on Ordnance Grounds by the British Army c. 1795 to defend against possible French attack during the Napoleonic Wars. The battery is orientated to defend attack from the W (www.buildingsofireland.ie; NIAH Reg. No. 15003134). Monument is visible today as a tree-covered earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. An earthwork (WM029-010001-) associated with the battery lies c. 100m to N, within the same ordnance grounds. A separate military complex (WM029-011----) lies c. 500m to SSW. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 07 November 2019