Fort Shannon was a

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

installation located at Ardmore Point, northwest of

Tarbert Tarbert () is a place name in Scotland and Ireland. Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, or isthmus. This can be where two lochs nearly meet, or a causeway out to an island. Etymology All placenames that variously s ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The installation had two 6-inch guns, pillboxes and searchlight emplacements. Abandoned in 1946, a small number of concrete structures remain on the site.

Location

Fort Shannon was constructed at Ardmore Point, west of Tarbert, County Kerry, overlooking the

Shannon estuary The Shannon Estuary in Ireland () is a large estuary where the River Shannon flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary has Limerick City at its head and its seaward limits are marked by Loop Head to the north and Kerry Head to the south. Th ...

. The installation is largely inaccessible by road. While described as a "fort", it is not a

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

in the strict military sense, and is rather a coastal artillery installation with a small

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

History

In December of 1941, during The Emergency in Ireland, the Irish government, concerned at a possible invasion by either

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, commissioned the installation of two 6-Inch guns to protect the

Shannon Estuary The Shannon Estuary in Ireland () is a large estuary where the River Shannon flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary has Limerick City at its head and its seaward limits are marked by Loop Head to the north and Kerry Head to the south. Th ...

. Following consideration and discussion of a possible location for the guns, a site at Ardmore Point was chosen due to its strategic location. The installation was built along the coast, at the bottom of a steep slope. Much of the installation was invisible from the water and unless extensive

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

was used, any approaching ships would be unaware of the guns until they were abreast of nearby

Scattery Island Inis Cathaigh, Scattery Island or Inniscattery Island () is an island in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland, off the coast of Kilrush, County Clare. The island is home to a lighthouse, a ruined monastery associated with Saints Senan and Canir, an I ...

. The dispatch of the guns was authorised by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

in December of 1941, though work did not begin until August of 1942, and was largely constructed by the 7th and 8th engineer companies. The installation was manned by a unit of the

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

's coastal defence artillery under the Southern Command. The unit fielded a

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

team that competed in the North Kerry Senior Football Championship. Fort Shannon was evacuated on 31 May 1946 and the guns were seemingly removed sometime afterwards. As of 2023, the Fort Shannon site (comprising ) remained in the ownership of the Department of Defence.

References

{{coord, 52.5837, -9.4348, region:IE_type:landmark, display=title Fortifications in the Republic of Ireland Artillery battery fortifications