Ballylinchy Signal Tower (in ruins) — Ballylinchy

Situated on the flat summit of a low, short and narrow N-S running ridge in a landscape characterised locally by such ridges separated by shallow intervening gullies (OD c. 134m). Located c. 350m N of the coastline at its closest point, and c. 1.6kms SE of the town of Baltimore. Sited on an area of flat ground close to the crest of the low ridge with land that slopes moderately away to the N and S, with a gentle slope running down from the W and a gentle rise adjacent to the E. The surrounding area consists of rough pastureland defined by linear field boundaries that follow the N-S running topography. The adjacent stations in the signal tower\station chain are found at Glen East\Gleann Oirtheach (CO153-022002-), located c. 10.1kms to the W\WSW to the E side of Clear Island\Cléire, which survives to its full original height, and at Gortacrossig, Toe Head (CO0151-041002-), located c. 9.4kms to the ENE\E, which survives extant but was altered c. 1830 to form part of a coastguard station (CO151-041001-). This signal station\tower at Kedge Point is located c. 1.6kms SE of the fortified house (CO150-036002-) at Baltimore, and c. 2.35kms E of the coastal beacon (NIAH Reg. No. 20914902) that is located at the tip of Beacon Point c. 1kms SW of the centre of Baltimore. An early-nineteenth-century (c. 1804-5) originally two-storey over partial raised basement square-plan signal station\tower (ext. dims. c. 5.8m N-S x c. 5.77m E-W; wall T c. 0.71m), built with roughly coursed rubble stone masonry. Exterior lime rendered with surviving sections of weather-slating still insitu. The walls of the signal station\ tower face, N, S, E, and W. Flush cut sandstone block-and-start quoins visible to the corners. The structure is well-preserved and survives to its full height (H c. 9m). A square-headed doorway is located to the centre of the S elevation at first floor level; this would have been originally accessed via a retractable ladder. The doorway is protected by a rectangular-plan rubble sandstone machicolation over supported three tapering\angled cut sandstone three corbels. There are pairs of square-headed window openings to the E and W elevations at ground and first floor levels. Bartizans would have been located on the NE and NW corners but these have now collapsed\been removed leaving ragged masonry to the corners of the signal station\tower at parapet level (The Cork Archaeological Survey record of the site from c. 1990 describes bartizans to the NE and NE corners of the tower at this time; this suggests that the bartizans collapsed after this time). Remains of rubble sandstone chimneystack rising to the centre of the N elevation. A ruinous two-storey structure is attached to the N gable. This is constructed of rubble stone masonry with lime render and remains of weather-slating surviving to the exterior. This structure is gable-ended to the N elevation with a rubble stone chimneystack rising over the gable apex. There are the remains of square-headed openings to this structure. This structure is a later addition to site and may have been built as part of alterations to convert the structure to residential use subsequent to the signal station\tower going out of its original use; this structure appears to have been added at an early date (see below). A small freestanding single-storey rectangular-plan structure\outbuilding is located adjacent c. 4m to the N of the gable of this gable-ended structure\addition; this is constructed of rubble stone masonry and had a mono-pitched roof, now collapsed. Kerrigan established that the signal mast had been erected by 1804 and the signal tower was completed by 1805 (Kerrigan 1995, 277). The signal station\tower is set within an enclosure (ext. dims. c. 52m N-S x c. 17m E-W) with a rectangular-plan section to the N and a wide fan-shaped area to the S end (max ext. dims. c. 29m E-W) that is defined by partially-collapsed boundary walls: this enclosing wall is no longer visible along a section of the NE boundary. The remains of a World War II-era Lookout Post (LOP 29) are located in the W part of the rounded end of the enclosure, c. 20m SSW\S of the main structure to site. A well preserved ’29 Eire’ sign dating to the same period is located c. 160m to the SE of the enclosure. Hamilton’s 1806 map shows the signal tower located in a narrow rectangular enclosure with a narrow fan shaped end to the S (Kerrigan 2003, 37). The Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map, surveyed 1841-2, shows the signal tower as a long rectangular building (presumably the original signal station\tower with the gabled addition to the N). The S end of the enclosure is depicted as more ‘angular’ on this map. A small freestanding building is shown to the N of the addition, and a smaller rectangular-plan structure is shown built against the outer face of the NW corner of the enclosure. The Ordnance Survey twenty-five inch map, surveyed c. 1900, depicts the fan-shaped S end of the enclosure with a ‘flag staff’ indicated c. 19m to the S of the signal station\tower (to E side of ‘fan’) and a ‘semaphore’ indicated c. 22m SSW (to W side of ‘fan’) of the tower. A rectangular-plan structure is indicated adjacent to the S of the tower at this time, now no longer extant. The signal tower was part of a system of over 80 signal stations constructed by the British Board of Ordnance in the first decade of the nineteenth century to warn of the approach of a French invasion fleet. Signalling between sites was accomplished using a naval signal post. The system formed a continuous chain from Dublin Bay running clockwise all the way around the coast to Malin Head in County Donegal. It was abandoned by the mid-1810s when the threat of a French invasion diminished (Kerrigan 1995, 157-66). Compiled by: Stuart Rathbone Uploaded on: 22/09/22