Ballydavid Signal Tower — Baile Dháith

Situated at the top of a steep SW-NE running slope and adjacent to a steep slope that drops down to near vertical cliffs to the N and W (c. 253m OD). Located on a small flat plateau area at the top of the slope with a rock outcrop to the NW beyond which is the steep slope that drops down to the cliffs; less steeply sloping terrain to the NE, SE and SW. The surrounding area consists of unenclosed rough pasture with enclosed pasture to the SE and S. Situated c. 313m SE of coastline at its nearest point and c. 500m NE of Ballydavid Head. The adjacent towers in the signal tower chain are found at Sybil Head (KE042-190----), located c. 8.85kms to the SW, and at Kerry Head (KE013-036----), located c. 37kms to the NE, now demolished. There were intermediate enclosed barracks sites associated with the signal tower network sited between Ballydavid Head (KE033-027---) and Kerry Head (KE013-036), which were located at Rough Point, Kilshannig (KE019-007----), located c. 25.5kms to the NE\ENE but now demolished, and at Brandon Head (KE025-004----), located 8.2kms to the NE\ENE, now collapsed. This signal tower at Ballydavis Head is located c. 1.7kms NNE of a coastal promontory fort (KE033-025----), and c. 2.1kms NW of the remains of a castle – unclassified (KE033-009----), located at Baile an Mhúraigh. The remains of an early nineteenth-century (c. 1804-5) originally two-storey square-plan signal tower (approx. ext. dims. 5.85m NE-SW x 5.85m NW-SE) built with roughly coursed rubble stone masonry. The NE and SW walls have largely collapsed, most of the ground floor level of the SE wall survives, and the NW wall survives to the top of the first floor level. A sketch of the site by George Victor Du Noyer (dated to 1856) illustrates many details of the site that are no longer visible. The SE wall would have featured a square-headed doorway at first floor level originally accessed via a retractable ladder, but no parts of the doorway have survived. The doorway was protected by a machicolation that has also not survived. The NE and SW walls would have featured pairs of square-headed window openings at the ground floor and first floor levels; all that survives are the lower sections\bases of the ground floor windows on the SW wall. The NW wall featured the chimneystack and internal chimney flue. The internal face of the NW wall features central fireplaces flanked by alcoves on the ground floor and first floor level. The N and E corners of the building were protected by bartizans that have not survived. Kerrigan established that the signal mast had been erected and the signal tower completed by 1805 (Kerrigan 1995, 278). A large rectangular-plan building (ext. dims. c. 7m NE-SW x c. 4.6m NW-SE) is located immediately to the NE of the signal tower. The gabled side walls at the NE and SW survive to close to their full original H although the apexes of both gables are now missing. The NW wall survives to approximately half its original H and only a low remnant of the SE wall now survives. The building is divided into two rooms internally with a smaller room at the SW end and a larger room to the NE. A door is located on the SE wall, accessing the smaller room. A window is located on the NW wall illuminating the larger room. A chimneystack was built into the NE gabled wall. The building seems to have been added to the site in the mid-or-late-1840s, based on it not being recorded by the original Ordnance Survey team and it being roofless by the time Du Noyer recorded it in 1856. The Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map, surveyed 1841-2, shows the signal tower to the W of the centre of a rectangular enclosure (see below). The enclosure has an inset corner at the NE end and a small rectangular-plan building is depicted in this corner. The site is identified as ‘Ballydavid Signal Tower (in ruins)’. The 2nd edition Ordnance Survey second ed. six-inch map, surveyed 1894-8, shows the tower with an adjacent building to the NE and the small building in the inset corner of the enclosure. The site is identified as ‘Ballydavid Signal Tower (in Ruins).’ The Ordnance Survey third ed. six-inch map, surveyed 1914-5, shows only the enclosure and the signal tower. The site is identified as ‘Ballydavid Signal Tower (in Ruins)’. Du Noyer’s sketch shows the enclosure with the inset corner and a small building with a mon-pitched roof in that corner. The sketch shows a rough entrance in the centre of the NE wall of the enclosure, which corresponds to the point where a track is shown connecting to the enclosure on the Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map. The signal tower is located in the SW part of a rectangular enclosure (ext. dims c. 42m SW-NE x c. 19m NW-SE) defined by rubble stone wall that extend down the slope to the NE of the signal tower. The enclosure wall survives to a considerable H at the SW, to a lower H around the SE and NE sides and has been removed around the NW. A poorly-defined entrance is still visible in the centre of the NE wall, and a wide sunken pathway can be seen leading from the entrance towards the two internal buildings. The enclosure is slightly misaligned with the internal buildings and path, suggesting it may have been a secondary addition that was not laid out at the same time as the signal tower. Only low remains of the small building in the N corner of the enclosure now survive. This appears to have had an entrance on the SW side. The NW wall is absent; therefore, it is not possible to determine how many rooms the building contained. The SE wall was underlain by a tall revetment wall that extended out from the enclosure wall to counteract the steeply-sloping ground in this area. 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 19th 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 Images by: Dr James Bonsall Uploaded on: 26/07/22 Images: KE033-027----.01 Drone view from E KE033-027----.02 Drone view from above KE033-027----.03 Drone view from E