Battery in Dunleary

In 1862, Battery No. 13 (DU023-052004-) at the old Dún Laoghaire harbour was relocated to the head of the East Pier of the new harbour, incorporating the base of the Light House (De Courcy 1996, 365). In 1860 G.R. Powell wrote that; 'Round the lighthouse has been lately built Kingstown Fort, a small but powerful defence should an enemy show himself within range. From its prominent position it commands the whole bay; it is completely manned, has many guns of large calibre, a powerful magazine, and a means of heating balls to a white heat. The walls round it are curved at the tops, so that any balls striking them, would glance away harmlessly' (Powell 1860, 52). The Dún Laoghaire Harbour website describes the battery as follows; 'A barrel-vaulted passage leads from the pier to the terreplein of the batter (i.e. the ground level). Immediately to the right are steps into a ‘Shifting Room’ with two rooms off it marked ‘Magazines’. Ammunition was stored in the magazines, prepared for use in the shifting room, and could be lifted to the upper battery by the derrick above the doorway. Beside the Magazines, and continuing anti-clockwise, is the ‘Casemate. A casemate is a vaulted chamber of masonry within the ramparts, in this case for defensive purposes, since it is equipped with an artillery embrasure overlooking the sea. Next to the casemate is the ‘Filling Room and Expense Shell Store’. The steps, part of which form the lintel of the filling room, lead to the upper battery with three gun platforms. On the lower battery were three more platforms, now only two. The Artillery Store and Expense Magazine are directly opposite the battery’s vaulted entrance; two small rooms below the level of the terreplein. Adjoining the Officer’s and soldier’s waterclosets, are the soldier’s quarters, designed to accommodate 24 men. Outside is the water tank with a capacity of 3,000 gallons. At this south-eastern corner was the cook house, coal store, and ash pit. The landing stage ran behind the officer’s quarter and into the guard room. CIL made alterations and repairs to areas of the battery in 1950, particularly the corner between the soldier’s quarters and the officer’s quarter. he War Office map of Kingstown harbour East Pierhead of 1862 (corrected 1883) marks “Shote Furnace and Passage”. The ‘passage’ is presumably joining the landing steps to the entrance passage, with the area off the ‘passage’ being the ‘Shot Furnace’. Later maps omit the furnace; suggesting that it had been blocked up. Gun shot would be heated in a furnace, taking over an hour on average to reach ‘white heat’. Essentially, the cold shot was inserted at ‘a’, this particular model holding a maximum of 63 balls. The fire was in the area marked ‘k’, which obviously only heated to ‘red’ or ‘white’ heat (as desired) those shot immediately over the flames. Three small doors (‘f’), when opened, allowed one shot each to roll onto the stone trough (‘i’) ready to be loaded and fired. The results of trials with this model stated; “after 61 minutes from the lighting of the fire, the foremost shot were ‘white heat’, and blazed instantly in a block of red pine..This furnace, after 70 minutes from the first lighting of the fire, furnished shot at intervals of 40 seconds (ie three shots in two minutes) all of which were of the same white heat”. The 1857 drawing ‘Proposed Kingstown Battery on the East Pier Head’ (National Archives OPW 5HC/4/951) refers to the armament to be installed in the battery. It reads; “3 x 68-Pounder Guns over Casemates on dwarf traversing platforms pivoted in rear 4 x 32-Pounders on in a Casemate. 1 x 24 Pounder on Garrison Carriage to bear into the Harbour”. The ordnance in permanent fortifications was generally former ships artillery, and so a little outmoded by the time of its installation. As a result, those in the East Pier Battery in the 1860’s may have been Bloomfields or Millars. “A Vessel has usually a great superiority over a battery in the number of guns she can bring to bear upon a given point; but the advantages of the battery are, that the guns are fired from a steady platform..a batter cannot be set on fire like a ship, moreover, a battery possesses the numerous advantages which choice of position can give”. The three 68-pounder guns on the upper battery are visible in a turn-of-the-century photograph of the structure. 68-pounder guns were not of one model, but usually adaptations, even ‘experiments’. The heavy ordnance of these guns suited their position facing out to the horizon; “These heavy calibres, with solid and even with hollow shot, command a considerable range, with an accuracy of fire perfectly astonishing” (13) and “The objects against which the guns of coast batteries are employed being generally movable, very great accuracy and rapidity of fire are essential”. On the lower battery were three 32-pounders. As mentioned, another 32-pounder was in the casemate. On the terreplain are two arched gun embrasures. The ‘Proposal’ drawing of 1857 indicates only one, but since this was altered to two by the time of construction, one can assume that there were 2 x 24-pounder guns which overlooked the harbour. Smalled splayed embrasures in this part of the parapet would have facilitated short-range rifle fire into the harbour. Incidentally, the 24-pounder gun at the base of the East Pier is Russian, not English, and has no connection with this battery. The 2 x 24-pounders on the terreplein, and very likely the 32-pounder in the casemate, were resting on ‘garrison carriages’. Inevitably the discharge of the shot will force the carriage to jerk away from the direction of fire, after which it was rolled back to its original position for the next shot. No other mobility was possible, or necessary when firing through an embrasure. However, the six other guns were mounted on dwarf traversing platforms with rear pivots. “Where rapidity of fire is not needed, the common ground platform of wood or stone may be used; but for quick firing at vessels in motion, the dwarf traversing platform is the more suitable. Two hollow-soled trucks run on the iron racers, allowing virtually a 180 degree range as well as a choice of elevation. An OPW memo dated 1948 reads: “These quarters [residential buildings in the battery] were occupied by Mr. James Harris up to the date of his death on 31/1/36 at a rent equivalent to the rates assessable on a P.L.V of £7.. His widow was allowed to remain at the premises at the same rent until her death on 9/9/39. Subsequently the premises were occupied by Mr. Thos. Sutherland, a grandson of Mr. Harries until 1940, when the Department of Defence informed us that they required the quarters. Possession was obtained from Mr. Sutherland on 21/10/40 and handed over to Department of Defence on 9/12/40. The quarters returned to us [OPW] on 14/12/45' (https://dlharbour.ie/historical/locale/). Powell, G.R. 1860 Official Railway handbook to Bray, Kingstown, the Coast and the county of Wicklow. McGlashan & Gill. Dublin. DU023-074----_02 - plan of Kingstown Battery, East Pier Head, dated 1883 courtesy of the Military Archives, Irish Defense Forces, IE/MA/MPD/AD119456-001. DU023-074----_03 - plan of Kingstown Battery, East Pier Head, dated 1883 courtesy of the Military Archives, Irish Defense Forces, IE/MA/MPD/AD119456-001. DU023-074----_04 - Proposed Battery on The East Pier Head - Elevation View courtesy of the Military Archives, Irish Defense Forces, IE/MA/MPD/AD119456-003. DU023-074----_05 - Proposed Battery on The East Pier Head - Elevation View courtesy of the Military Archives, Irish Defense Forces, IE/MA/MPD/AD119456-003. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 25 January 2022