Lough Swilly - History

History

Steeped in history the lough and the Grianán Ailigh hill fort (early fortification and palace dating from 2000- 5000 BC) at its southeastern bend was recorded on Ptolemy's map of the world. It has numerous early stone age monuments and Iron Age fortifications along its shores as well as a number of shell midden finds dated to approximately 7000 BC. It is most famous for its part in hosting what is known as Flight of the Earls. After a failed general uprising, in September 1607, Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell the last Gaelic chieftains and upholders of Brehon law in Ireland at that time, set sail from Rathmullan with ninety of their followers. On 4 December 1811, during a gale the Royal Navy 36-gun Apollo class frigate HMS Saldanha was shipwrecked in Lough Swilly. There were no survivors out of the estimated 253 aboard, and some 200 bodies washed up on shore.

Due to its natural shelter and impressive depth the lough was an important naval port from earliest times. In October 1798, immediately prior to the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars, a French fleet carrying Wolfe Tone of the United Irishmen, plus troops to assist in 1798 rebellion, was intercepted and defeated in a naval battle at the entrance to Lough Swilly. Subsequently Tone was captured and taken ashore at Buncrana on the east side of the Swilly.

A subsequent reassessment of the threat of invasion led to the building of a series of fortifications guarding the different approaches and landing points within the lough which were completed between 1800-1820. Martello towers were built around 1804 to defend the approaches to Derry. The six on the lough cost €1,800 each, were armed with smooth bore cannon, firing round shot and were completed in six months.

Immediately prior to World War I the British improved the Napoleonic forts and their armaments as well as adding an additional fort at the entrance to the lough at Lenan Head with 9 inch guns (12 mile range) - the largest in Ireland at the time. The remains of these fortifications can still be inspected at Lenan Head, Dunree (now a military and wildlife museum), neds point- Buncrana, Inch Island and on the west coast at Rathmullan, Knockalla and Macamish point.

During World War I, the lough was used by the Royal Navy as an anchorage for the North Atlantic Fleet under Admiral Jellicoe and a gathering/staging point for North Atlantic convoys. During this period a boom was placed across the lough supported by a number of trawlers to prevent U-Boat attacks. After the Irish War of Independence the lough was also one of the Treaty Ports specified in the Anglo-Irish Treaty until its final handing over at Fort Dunree in 1938.

According to exhibits at Dunree, during the Second World War Irish troops manned the guns there with explicit instructions to fire at any ship that would threaten Irish neutrality by entering the natural harbour. There was reportedly only one serious incident, when a British Royal Navy ship entered the lough and did not initially respond to signals that it should turn back. However, the ship turned around before the Irish forces fired upon it.

Coordinates: 55°09′14″N 7°32′12″W / 55.15377°N 7.53662°W / 55.15377; -7.53662