Battery in Cromwell's Island

This fortification may date from the time of the mid-17th century wars. It is situated on Cromwell's Island in the River Shannon immediately E of the medieval borough of Meelick (GA108-234----). A small tower-like building is represented on the Down Survey (1655-6) map of Co. Offaly and the name ‘Milcke forts’ (Meelick Forts) printed on the Co. Galway side of the river may refer to this. The Down Survey map (1655-6) map of the barony of Garricastle , Co. Offaly, represents the fort as a square bastioned work. It may have been converted into a battery in the 18th/early 19th century when a building was erected in the interior. It is shown on the OS 1st ed. 6-inch sheet (surveyed 1838) as a trapezoidal shape represented by a double line and is named 'Battery'. It is also named 'Battery' on the OS 1884 OS 1:2500 plan (surveyed 1884) where it is shown as a trapezoidal earthen fortification having a demi-bastion on the south and an entrance on the east. The building depicted on the 1st ed. map is not indicated. It was probably removed in the early decades of hte 20th century when the embankment stretching from Portumna to Meelick was constructed by the Electricity Supply Board. This bank or levée was built to act as a dam or dyke to control the winter water levels along the Galway side of the River Shannon and reduce flooding. On inspection in 1984 no visible surface trace of the battery survived. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 4 March 2018