ARMY TUNNEL UNEARTHED AT FORT DAVIS NEAR WHITEGATE.
PROOF THAT THESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS SHOULD BE MONITORED FOR ANY EXCAVATING, AS I DID AT CAMDEN, UNTIL 2011. IT’S ALWAYS BETTER TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION! Note well those in pre-planning talks on areas involving archaeological sites!
HERE’S A WONDERFUL STORY………
IRISH EXAMINER
The Defence Forces have made a number of significant archaeological discoveries at a 400-year-old fort in Co Cork and believe they have “only scratched the surface”.
In recent weeks, the army — which runs Fort Davis near Whitegate — uncovered a 100m-long underground tunnel, part of a network beneath the complex at the mouth of Cork Harbour.
On clearing scrubland, they also discovered old ruins and pillboxes along with the remains of torpedo bays in the hewn-out rock at the bottom of the three-level structure, the majority of which is underground.
Commandant Pat O’Connor, who is in charge of the fort, believes that it is an archaeological goldmine as throughout a long history, the site remained relatively undisturbed as it had always been occupied by military forces.
The fort was developed in stages from 1607 when it was called King John’s Fort. It was built to repel foreign fleets from entering the harbour as had occurred a few years previously when Spain landed troops to help the Irish, leading to the Battle of Kinsale. At that time, the fort was built as a hilltop installation.
Like other fortifications around Cork Harbour, it was used by the British as a high-powered defensive system to protect one of the most strategic ports of the then British empire.
The fort was extended over the years with a myriad of underground tunnels which were dug out of rock, primarily by French prisoners captured by the British during the wars of 1798-1815.
It had been garrisoned previously during the Jacobite Wars (1688-1691) and was updated again during the American War of Independence (1775–1783), when it was renamed Fort Carlisle.
Sgt Paul Fitzgerald, whose team from Ist Cavalry Squadron are in charge of maintaining the training facility, said it took three weeks to clear the 100m-long tunnel.
“It’s very old as it’s not cemented like most of the rest of the tunnels. I know there has to be more here. The only drawings we have are from the British department of war in 1917 and they are only for a minimal part of the complex. This tunnel is outside of the area detailed by them,” Sgt Fitzgerald said.
Parts of the fortifications are very overgrown and when clearing scrub, his team also found old buildings and pillar boxes.
They also discovered torpedo bays believed to date to the First World War.
The soldiers also tend to a graveyard on the site where British troops are buried and even some Irish ones who were based at nearby Spike Island.
In August 2020 a previously unknown staircase built as part of the original fort, was revealed. The access to the winding staircase had been blocked off when the second fort was built in the early 1800’s. No further use was seen for the stairwell, which lead from inside the fort to the external moat. It always pays to have any works on monuments monitored by an archaeologist.
CORK ARCHAEOLOGIST Catryn Power 