Fort Dunree ( or ''Dún Fhraoigh'' meaning "Fort of Heather") is a coastal defence fortification located on the west side of the

Inishowen Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland. The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfor ...

peninsula,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The fort is located on a rocky

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...

accessed over a natural fissure. Originally built as part of a series of fortifications defending

Lough Swilly Lough Swilly () in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen, Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glaci ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, located opposite Knockalla Fort on the other side of the lough. The fort was neglected after the peace of 1815. In 1874 it was armed with seven 24 Pounder guns. It was remodelled in 1895 to have 2 x 4.7 inch (120 mm) QF guns below, and later 12 pounder (5 kg) QF and 2 x 6 inch (152 mm) guns in an upper

land battery 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 ...

. The top of a hill overlooking the site was walled in to form a

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldi ...

. Both 6-inch guns were operational during the First World War.

Treaty port

On 6 December 1921, the

Anglo Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), 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 ...

was concluded. It provided for the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

which happened on 6 December 1922. The Treaty included provisions by which the British would retain sovereignty over three strategically important ports known as the

Treaty ports Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire. ...

, one of which being described in the Treaty as: Accordingly, even after the establishment of the Irish Free State, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

continued to maintain its presence at Fort Dunree. Fort Dunree remained under British sovereignty until 3 October 1938 when, pursuant to the

Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement The Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement was signed on 25 April 1938 by Ireland and the United Kingdom. It aimed to resolve the Anglo-Irish Trade War which had been on-going from 1933. Scope The prime minister Neville Chamberlain summarised the 4 possibl ...

of 25 April 1938, the territory was ceded to

. On 4 October 1938, ''The Times'' reported on the handover of Lough Swilly at Fort Dunree on 3 October 1938 as follows: Two brothers in-law, one hauling down a Union Jack and the other hauling up an Irish tricolour was indeed a poignant end to the long history of British military presence in the territory of the Irish state. It was also the last time sovereignty over any territory was ceded to Ireland. The guns at the Fort were manned by the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The Ar ...

until decommissioned following the Second World War. Fort Dunree was used by the Irish Army for training until 1990.Stevenson, Ian, 1995. ''Two Irish Loughs'', Redan: Journal of the Palmerston Forts Society, Gosport, pp11-28

Preservation

The fort is now a military museum with detailed exhibitions, many restored guns such as

BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun The BL 6-inch gun Mark VII (and the related Mk VIII) was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy travelling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, ...

and an old

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

. There are also displays about the area birds, marine life and coastal vegetation. Other facilities include a gift shop, auditorium, café and trail walks.

References

Publications

External links

{{Commons category, Fort Dunree
The Guns of Dunree Military Museum
- official site
Pictures of Dunree
o
Irelandscape
Museums in County Donegal Military and war museums in the Republic of Ireland Dunree