Bastioned fort in Cromwell's Island

Situated on Cromwell's Island in the River Shannon immediately E of the medieval borough of Meelick (GA108-234----) this fortification dates from the time of the mid-17th century wars and was erected by the Royalist-Confederate forces. The following account records the taking of the fort by the Parliamentary army in 1650: ‘Meleek Island, bordering upon the Shannon, into which there is only one pass, with bogs on each side; . . . Upon the five and twentieth of October, half an hour before night, our forces made an attempt upon the enemy, and after a small dispute beat them off from the first and second guard on the pass; but at the third the dispute was so hot, that they came to but-end of musket, and God being pleased to give our forces an entrance into the island, the whole body of the enemy was presently routed. They left all their arms, we took two hundred of their horse, all their waggons, oxen, tents, provisions, and whatsoever else they had in their whole camp; among which were [the Earl of] Clanrickard's own waggons and tent . . . The number of what men the enemy lost, is not certainly known; for beside those who were killed, multitudes were drowned. Five hundred of them were forced into the Shannon by one party of our horse in one place, and there were all drowned in one company together. The Irish report, that there was not above three hundred of the enemy which escaped, and that most of those were such as swam over the Shannon; which agrees with the relation of a trumpeter, who was the next day sent . . . to enquire after prisoners, who confessed that all but three hundred were lost; we lost only one Captain, viz. Captain Goff, with eight common soldiers, and twenty wounded.’ (Gilbert 1880, iii, 185) A small garrison was left there but these were overcome by the Royalist-Confederate troops at the end of July 1651: ‘there was not so much as a sentry found awake: and that all in it were put to the sword, the governor only excepted.’ (Gilbert 1880, iii, 348). The fort was retaken by forces under Sir Charles Coote in October as reported in the following account: ‘a breach being made, your forces stormed twice and were both times repelled; but the third time the place was carried, 140 killed and drowned, 200 taken prisoners, besides officers, whereof eight captains.’ (Dunlop 1913, i, 68). A small tower-like building is represented on the Down Survey (1655-6) map of Co. Offaly and the name ‘Milcke forts’ (Meelick Forts), which is 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 the 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 this fortification survived. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 12 March 2018