Signal Tower (in ruins) — An Baile Uachtarach Theas

Situated at the top of a steep SW-NE slope, and adjacent to near-vertical cliffs that drop down to the coastline to the N and NW. Located on a small artificial terrace cut into the top of the slope. The ground slopes steeply down to the coastline to the SE at Ferriter’s Cove, located c. 1.6kms away. The surrounding area consists of unenclosed rough pasture with enclosed pasture to the E and SE. The adjacent towers in the signal tower chain are found at Ballydavid Head (KE033-027----), located c. 8.85kms to the NE but now partially collapsed, and at Great Blasket\An Blascaod Mór (KE051-017----), located c. 10.8kms to the SSW, now mostly collapsed. Signal tower at Sybil Head is located c. 1.2kms NNW of a spectacularly-sited coastal promontory fort (KE042-034001-) located at Doon Point\Dún an Fheirtéaraigh. The remains of an early nineteenth-century (c. 1804-5) originally two-storey square-plan signal tower with numerous later additions and alterations (c. 1900-20?). The structure (s) now present on the site is a chronologically-complex, rectangular-plan two-storey building (ext. dims. c. 11m NE-SW x c. 6m NW-SE), which now does not resemble the typical form of an early nineteenth-century signal tower as encountered elsewhere along the coast. The building’s long axis is aligned NE-SW, and the front elevation faces to the SE. The external walls of the building are covered in cement render; this no longer survives to the corners of the building(s) and the surrounds of some of the openings, exposing some red brick construction. There is no surviving render to the interior walls, and it is clear that the body of the walls consist of rubble stone masonry. There are parts of a concrete slab floor extant between the ground floor and the first floor, to the centre of the structure, and to some of the corner sections. A cross wall runs across the centre of the building dividing the ground floor into two rooms with a square-head door opening with red brick surround to the middle of this wall. The NE part of the building has a surviving overhanging flat concrete slab roof with moulded cornice-like edging. Remnants of this moulded concrete edging to the roof now survive as detached fragments spread throughout the site. A flight of concrete steps runs down the NE side of the building, turning at a right-angle to the NW at a small landing close to ground level. The front elevation at the SE features three small square-headed openings with red brick surrounds; two windows located high up to the NE at the ground floor level and one high up over to the first floor level. The rest of the wall is plain. The SW side wall features the remains of two large window openings with remnants of red brick surrounds, one to each floor level. The central part of the NE side wall has largely collapsed, although traces of the reveal of a large window are visible at ground floor level. The rear NW elevation is largely collapsed but a plain section survives at the NE, and traces of a small central projecting wing are visible extending from the centre of that side of the building. The Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map, surveyed 1841-2, depicts a rectangular-plan building set near the centre of a rectangular enclosure. The Ordnance Survey second and third ed. maps, surveyed 1894-8 and 1914-5 respectively, show a small square-plan building close to the SW side of the original building. On all three maps the site is identified as ‘Signal Tower (in Ruins)’. Kerrigan established that the signal mast had been erected and the signal tower completed by 1805 (Kerrigan 1995, 278). The single large rectangular-plan building now located at the site occupies the same area as the two buildings shown on the later Ordnance Survey maps. The building may have been formed from connecting the two adjacent buildings shown on the later Ordnance Survey maps, in which case the NE end of the building would have incorporated some of the mass of the original signal tower, the SW end of the building would have incorporated some of the mass of the secondary building, and the central part of the building would represent a later connecting element. Alternatively, the original buildings may have been demolished and replaced by the building now on the site. Reviewing the building, there are no details which clearly indicate the incorporation of parts of a standard design early nineteenth-century signal tower. Clements identified the site as one of the locations used by the Royal Navy as a Naval War Signal Station during World War 1, and the current condition of the site is thought to relate to that period of reuse (Clements 2013, 102). The enclosure (ext. dims. c. 35m NE-SW x c. 26m NW-SE) was defined by a rubble stone wall that only survives in two small sections to the NE and SW sides. This wall has rounded concrete capping. Along the cliff edge to the NW there is a low concrete plinth wall, which seems to have been the mount for a now removed metal fence\railing over. This feature is likely a replacement for the NW wall shown on the Ordnance Survey first and second ed. six-inch maps; this wall was probably lost to erosion, based on the changes observed between the maps and current aerial images. A circular metal mounting plate is located uphill of the building, close to the cliff edge. A stone-built square plan structure is located to the SW of the building, which could possibly be a mast mount used by the original signal tower. 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: KE042-190----.01 SE exterior KE042-190----.02 View from the NE KE042-190----.03 NW exterior KE042-190----.04 Site context from SE KE042-190----.05 View of external Stairs to NE KE042-190----.06 SW elevation KE042-190----.07 View of collapsed part of overhanging roof KE042-190----.08 Possible mast mount of signal tower KE042-190----.09 Detail of cast-iron mounting plate for railings