View source for Ned's Point Fort

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use Irish English|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox Military Structure
|name=Ned's Point Fort
|partof=
|location= [[County Donegal]]<br>[[Ireland]]
|coordinates ={{coords|55.141|-7.474|display=title}}
|image=Entrance, Ned's Point Fort - geograph.org.uk - 2595285.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption= Ned's Point Fort entrance gate
|image2=
|caption2=
|map_type= Ireland
|type=
|code=
|built= 1812-1813<br>Reconstructed 1895-1899
|builder=
|materials= Stone, concrete, earth
|height=
|used= 
|demolished= 
|condition= Intact
|ownership= Local authority
|open_to_public= No
|controlledby=
|garrison= [[British Armed Forces]]
|current_commander=
|commanders=
|occupants=
|battles=
|events=
}}

'''Ned's Point Fort''' is one of several [[Napoleonic]] batteries built along the shores of [[Lough Swilly]] in [[county Donegal]], to defend the north west of [[Ireland]].<ref name="epa2018">{{cite report|url = http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b280676b69.pdf | publisher = Donegal County Council | author = Malachy Walsh & Partners | via = EPA.ie | title = Desktop Archaeological Impact Assessment Report, Buncrana Pier, Lough Swilly| page = 17 | date = 15 February 2018 | accessdate = 11 November 2018 | quote = ''Neds Point battery was [..] one of at least seven batteries built on both shores of Lough Swilly''}}</ref><ref name="niah">{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40902922/neds-point-fort-tullyarvan-county-donegal | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Ned's Point Fort, Tullyarvan, County Donegal | accessdate = 10 November 2018 }}</ref> It was part of a scheme to fortify Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle against French Invasion during the Revolutionary and [[Napoleonic War]]s.<ref name="Planet2012">{{cite book|author=Lonely Planet|title=Lonely Planet County Donegal: Chapter from Ireland Travel Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r0vqJWYx5pUC&pg=PT51|date=1 March 2012|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74321-154-0|pages=51–}}</ref> It is situated on Ned's Point, near the once important naval town of [[Buncrana]], and its current form largely dates to works completed between 1812 and 1813.<ref>{{cite journal| last = Stevenson | first = Ian | year = 1995 | title = Two Irish Loughs | journal = Redan: Journal of the Palmerston Forts Society |place = Gosport | pages = 11–28}}</ref><ref name="epa2018"/> It comprised a rectangular blockhouse mounting two guns and a supporting battery mounting four guns. The fort is surrounded by a ditch.<ref name="niah"/>

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars the defences were neglected and not updated. In 1874, the fort was armed with two 5.5-inch Howitzers in the tower and four 24 Pounder smooth bore guns in the main battery.<ref>{{cite book| publisher = The National Archives | title = Plans of Neds Point Fort and Down of Inch Fort | author = War office | year = 1862 | work = WO78/4747/1}}</ref>

It was remodeled in the 1890s as a battery with two 6-inch guns on hydropneumatic mountings. This included a central underground magazine complex and the height of the tower or blockhouse was also reduced. In addition two practice batteries were constructed for six 64 Pounder guns and four 5-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns. In 1905 it was recommended by the Owen Committee that the fort be disarmed.<ref>{{cite report|last = Owen | first = J F | year = 1905 | title = Report of the Committee on the Armaments of Home Ports | publisher = HMSO | place = London}}</ref> This was completed by 1907, and no armament was listed at the fort in a report dated to 1913.<ref>{{cite book|title=Castles and fortifications in Ireland, 1485&ndash;1945 | isbn=1898256128 |author=Paul M. Kerrigan |date=1995 |publisher=Collins Press | page = 267 | quote = ''No armament in listed at Neids Point in 1913, and the garrison appears to have been withdrawn the following year''}}</ref>

The fort remains substantially intact, along with the practice batteries. Parts of the site were restored by Buncrana Town Council in the 1990s,<ref name="niah"/> and subject to some additional restoration as of 2012.{{Update inline|date=December 2015}} While there are a number of walking routes in the area, the fort itself is not open to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.inishview.com/activity/neds-point-fort/ | publisher = | website = inishview.com | title = Ned's Point Fort | accessdate = 9 September 2021 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Forts in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in County Donegal]]

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