Walking Dublin Bay’s Martello Towers
At 5:00am yesterday morning Peter Molloy headed off on his 26-mile walk along the coast of Dublin Bay from Bray to Howth. In aid of Waterloo Uncovered. Peter followed the trail of the remaining Napoleonic era Martello Towers. We joined him at Dalkey and walked with him to Blackrock. Very aptly to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo a coastal mist and drizzle accompanied us along our journey. Peter is an encyclopedia of Napoleonic knowledge. Standing at Tower No. 11 (now the James Joyce museum) at Sandycove, just beside the famous 40 Foot, we looked out over the bay. the mist tainted our view, but the sound of a fog horn indicated a ship. Some 200 years ago a sentry would be thinking: is this Napoleon.
Sadly, a lot of the towers are gone; the Dublin area alone had nearly 30: the cannon fire must have been devastating to any ship caught in the cross fire. Many areas are void of any clue that a coastal defence ever existed: for example, Dún Laoghaire used to have two towers. Those that do remain are still formidable platforms. Today however, they are part of the landscape. At Seapoint the tower was surrounded by people swimming in the sea. Well done to Peter Molloy and Waterloo Uncovered. Hopefully we will be seeing more of him in the future.