Fort Templebreedy ( Irish: ''Dún Theampall Bríde''), also known as Templebreedy Battery, was a coastal defence fortification close to

Crosshaven Crosshaven () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is in lower Cork Harbour at the mouth of the River Owenabue, across from Currabinny Wood, 15 km south-east of the centre of Cork city. Originally a fishing village, from the 19th centu ...

, in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland. Supplementing a number of earlier structures at Fort Camden and Fort Davis, the site was developed between 1904 and 1909 to defend the mouth of

Cork Harbour Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee (Ireland), River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational ...

. Used as 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 ...

position until the 1940s, and as a military training camp until the late 20th century, many of the structures of the 37-acre site were dismantled over time, and part of the complex used as a

pitch and putt Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to, and derived from, golf, where the hole length is typically up to and just 2–3 clubs are normally used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, before ...

course. In 2009,

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

added the site to a proposed list of protected structures – though as of 2022 it remained in the ownership of the Department of Defence.

History

As with other earlier coastal defence fortifications at Fort Camden (

) and Fort Carlisle ( Whitegate), the batteries at Templebreedy were designed to defend the strategically important entrance to

. By the early 20th century, a number of improvements were proposed to the harbour defences – including the installation of newer

Breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

9.2 Inch guns. Rather than installing these guns at Fort Camden, it was decided to build separate batteries slightly south of the existing fort, at Templebreedy, to cover threats outside the harbour approaches in the

Celtic Sea The Celtic Sea is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the north by St George's Channel, Saint George's Channel; other limits include the Bristol Channel, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay, as wel ...

. Built between 1904 and 1909, the fortification included concrete gun emplacements for two BL 9.2 inch Mark X guns, underground magazines,

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

s, and a number of machine-gun positions. A practice range was added later for smaller QF 12-pounder guns. A further battery was constructed for BL 6-inch Mark VII guns; however, these were never installed. By the end of construction in 1909, there was accommodation in place for four officers and 81 non-commissioned officers and men. Throughout the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918), the harbour was used as a naval base to cover the "

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

", and the battery complemented the defences of Fort Camden and Fort Carlisle. During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

(1919–1921), Templebreedy was somewhat isolated, and ambushes by IRA Brigades were not uncommon on supplies to the fort. Following the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

the harbour defences remained in the control of

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

, until July 1938 when the Treaty Port installations, including Templebreedy, were relinquished to Irish authorities. The

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces (, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in other contexts (e.g. ...

continued to maintain and operate the batteries throughout the Emergency (WWII), until the defences were largely decommissioned in 1946. Though the large 9.2 inch guns remained in place until the 1960s, the buildings and grounds continued to be used into the 1970s and later (including for training camps by Army Reserve (FCÁ) and Naval Reserve (Slua Muirí)). As of the early 21st century, though a number of buildings, concrete emplacements, underground magazine stores and other structures still stand, no guns or defensive elements remain, and the site is no longer used for military purposes.

Today

From the original construction of the fortifications at Templebreedy, there was some contention about access rights. This manifest in political debates about

rights of way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

(as early as 1909), suspected unauthorised access resulting in accidental shooting (in 1940), building of houses off Defence Forces' access roads (1949), and "overholding" of assigned quarters by Defence Forces' personnel (as late as 2012). Some years after the complex ceased to be used for active defence purposes, some of the site was laid-out as a

course. However this was closed – amid some controversy – in 2005. Though

added Fort Templebreedy to a list of protected structures in 2009, ostensibly to protect the site and potentially prepare it for development as a heritage and recreation site, as of 2020 it remained in the ownership of the Department of Defence. Public access to the site therefore remains limited.

References

{{Cork Harbour , state=collapsed Templebreedy Templebreedy Military installations established in 1904 Templebreedy

History

Today

See also

References