Martello towers and signal towers

• About fifty · Martello towers around the Irish coast, according to the Martello tower article, especially on the east coast from Millmount (Drogheda) to Bray, around Dublin Bay and around Cork Harbour. Source ↗
• 74 · Towers built along the coasts of Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars, according to the Magilligan article. It does not say how it counts, and the figure may include towers the other article leaves out. Source ↗
• 29 · Martello towers and battery installations built or partly built in the Greater Dublin Area between 1803 and 1808. Source ↗
• 81 · Signal towers built along the Irish coast between 1804 and 1806, according to the Bray Tower article. Source ↗

This page describes 20 Martello towers and 6 signal towers that Wikipedia's articles describe individually. It is not a complete list.

• James Joyce Tower, Sandycove Martello · Dublin · Built 1803–1808 (the Dublin towers as a group)
  Possibly the most famous Irish Martello tower, in the words of the Martello tower article. Oliver St John Gogarty leased it from the War Office, and James Joyce stayed six nights there, 9 to 14 September 1904. The opening scenes of Ulysses are set in it. The architect Michael Scott bought it in 1954 and gave it for a museum, which opened on 16 June 1962 and is run by volunteers of the Friends of Joyce Tower Society.
  Now: Joyce museum, free admission · Map ↗
• Martello Tower South No. 7, Tara Hill, Killiney Martello · Dublin · date not given
  Described as unique in Ireland as an enfilading tower. Privately owned and fully restored, with a working 18-pounder Blomefield cannon on the roof, a three-gun battery below and a resident gunner. The Killiney Bay towers followed a 1797 survey by a Major La Chaussée.
  Now: Private, restored
• Seapoint tower Martello · Dublin · date not given
  Clubhouse of the Seapoint Boat Club from 1916 to 1931, then headquarters of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, which left when it found the atmosphere did not suit the preservation of its records.
  Now: Former club and society headquarters
• Bray tower Martello · Wicklow · date not given
  The southern end of the east-coast chain. The Martello tower article notes that Bono owned it during the 1980s.
  Now: Not stated
• Ireland's Eye Martello · Dublin · Built 1803 or 1804
  One of three towers in the Howth area. It held two 24-pounder guns and is described as the largest tower in the north Dublin area. Its wooden first floor is gone; the island is otherwise uninhabited.
  Now: Standing; wooden floor removed · Map (the island) ↗
• Red Island and Shenick Island, Skerries Martello · Dublin · Built Early 19th century
  Two towers in the Dublin chain. The Red Island tower was part of the Red Island Holiday Camp; since the camp was demolished in the 1980s it has stood alone. Shenick Island can be reached on foot only at the lowest tides.
  Now: Standing
• Millmount, Drogheda Martello · Louth · Built After 1800, when the fort was re-fortified
  Known locally as the ‘Cup and Saucer’. Anti-Treaty forces held it in the Civil War, and on 4 July 1922 the Free State army shelled it with the same 18-pounder used on the Four Courts, all but destroying the tower. Restored in 2000.
  Now: Military museum, open to the public

• Monning tower, near Fota Island Martello · Cork · date not given
  During the Fenian rising, Captain Mackey briefly captured and held it. The Martello tower article says it is believed to be the only Martello tower ever captured, apart from the original at Mortella in Corsica.
  Now: Extant
• Belvelly, Great Island Martello · Cork · date not given
  Converted to a family home in the early 21st century. Its 13-foot walls and protected status meant little could be changed, so most light comes from the roof.
  Now: Private house
• Haulbowline Island Martello · Cork · date not given
  Built to defend the Ordnance Yard. The island is now part of the Irish Naval Service headquarters.
  Now: Within the naval base
• Ringaskiddy and Rossleague Martello · Cork · date not given
  Two of the five Cork Harbour towers still standing, of seven built. The towers at Little Island and Rostellan are no longer intact.
  Now: Extant
• Garinish (Ilnacullin), Glengarriff Martello · Cork · Built Napoleonic Wars
  A restored tower in the island gardens. Like other Cork towers, and unlike most Irish ones, it is a straight cylinder that does not splay out at the base.
  Now: Restored, in a public garden
• Bere Island (four towers) Martello · Cork · Built Reported ready 2 February 1805
  Built to guard the Royal Navy anchorage at Berehaven after Rear-Admiral Calder asked for protection in December 1803. The article says they were probably among the earliest Martello towers completed in Ireland. A signal tower was built on the island too.
  Now: Remains survive
• Hook Peninsula and Baginbun Martello · Wexford · date not given
  Two towers on the Hook Peninsula guarded the fort near Duncannon and the entrance to Waterford Harbour. A third stands on the headland at Baginbun Bay.
  Now: Not stated

• Meelick Martello Tower Martello · Offaly · Built About 1811
  On Moran Island in the River Shannon, guarding a ford at the Meelick rapids against a French landing in the west. It is cam-shaped, with three guns rather than the usual one. Ivy now covers it.
  Now: Protected structure (Offaly RPS 38-03), ivy-covered
• Aughinish Tower Martello · Clare · Built Site bought March 1811
  A signal and gun tower on Galway Bay, with room for one officer and 39 men. An original 24-pounder cannon stayed in place until 1992. In the 1950s local people held dances and céilís in it, rowing over from New Quay.
  Now: Refurbished as a private residence
• Finavarra Tower Martello · Clare · Built 1812–1816
  An oval tower with three gun positions, guarding Ballyvaughan Bay and New Quay. A stone at the site records that Maureen Emerson, who died in 1999, left the tower to the State for the nation.
  Now: State property
• Gabhla Fhranca (‘French Tower’), Achill Signal tower · Mayo · Built Napoleonic Wars, by local memory
  A square, Martello-like tower. The 1838 Ordnance Survey chart marks it ‘Signal Tower’, and by the 1830s it was described as a coastguard watch-house. The Achill Island article calls the tower near the Deserted Village a Martello tower; whether this is the same tower is not stated.
  Now: Not stated

• Macamish Fort, Lough Swilly Martello · Donegal · Built 1812–1813
  A Martello tower with one gun and a three-gun battery, once entered by a drawbridge. One of several batteries guarding Lough Swilly; obsolete and disarmed by the 1860s.
  Now: Private residence
• Rathmullan Martello · Donegal · date not given
  Listed in the Martello tower article as still extant.
  Now: Extant
• Magilligan Point Martello · Derry / Londonderry · Built 1815–1817 (Magilligan article) or ‘between 1812 and 1871’ (Martello tower article)
  A well-preserved tower at the mouth of Lough Foyle, one of the most northerly in Ireland. The two articles give different building dates; the second looks like a typing slip, but we have not checked a primary source.
  Now: Visitor attraction

• Bray Tower, Valentia Island Signal tower · Kerry · Built 1805
  Built by the Board of Ordnance, one of the chain of signal towers. Abandoned in the mid-1810s, it was used again as a naval war signal station in the First World War. In 2020 Kerry County Council proposed preserving it with a rooftop viewing platform.
  Now: Proposed for the Record of Protected Structures (2022–2028 plan)
• Moher Tower, Hag's Head Signal tower · Clare · Built c. 1808
  At the southern end of the Cliffs of Moher. An older promontory fort, Mothar, was pulled down in 1808 to provide stone for it. Nearly square, with bartizans on its walls; the roof has mostly fallen in.
  Now: Ruin; walkers shelter in it in storms
• Malin Head, Altnadarrow Signal tower · Donegal · Built 1805
  A military watchtower on ‘Tower Hill’ at Ireland's most northerly mainland point. Around 1902 the Marconi Company built a signal station beside it. Both still stand.
  Now: Standing · Map ↗
• Dursey Island, Tilickafinna Signal tower · Cork · Built Napoleonic Wars
  On the island's highest point: a narrow rectangular tower of two storeys over a basement, ruined since the mid-19th century. In the Second World War an ÉIRE sign was laid out beside it to tell pilots they were over neutral Ireland.
  Now: Ruin
• Bere Island, Derrycreeveen Signal tower · Cork · Built c. 1804–1805, with the island's Martello towers
  Built with the four Martello towers, a barracks and a quay to protect the Berehaven anchorage.
  Now: Remains

Each name links to the Wikipedia article it is drawn from. A building date, present state or map point is given only where that article states it; map links are given for only three towers, and the Ireland's Eye point is the island, not the tower.

• Wikipedia: Martello tower (Ireland section) ↗
• Wikipedia: Martello towers in the Greater Dublin Area ↗
• Wikipedia: Bray Tower (Valentia) ↗
• Wikipedia: Magilligan ↗

Gaps: Wikipedia has no list of Irish Martello towers, so many towers named only in passing (Balbriggan, Drumanagh, Portrane, Donabate, Malahide, Portmarnock, Howth, Sutton, Bullock Harbour, Dalkey Island, Williamstown, Sandymount) are left out here, and most of the 81 signal towers have no article at all. Building dates for single towers are often missing.

Know a tower that is missing, or one that has changed hands? Tell us.