111-671: Lough Swilly ( Irish : Loch Súilí , meaning 'lake of eyes') in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal . Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glacial fjords in Ireland. Both Lough Swilly ( Irish : Loch Súilí ) and the adjoining River Swilly ( An tSúileach ) have
222-403: A casemate on the first floor, which was divided into several rooms and had fireplaces built into the walls for cooking and heating. The officer and men lived in separate rooms of almost equal size. A well or cistern within the fort supplied the garrison with water. An internal drainage system linked to the roof enabled rainwater to refill the cistern. During the first half of the 19th century,
333-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
444-472: A Captain Ford. The northernmost tower at Aldeburgh is of quatrefoil design, i.e. four in one. and there are two towers at Clacton-on-Sea, one near the town and the other to the west near the local Golf Course (see the pictures on the right). Included in the scheme were three much larger circular forts or redoubts that were constructed at Harwich , Dymchurch and Eastbourne ; they acted as supply depots for
555-561: 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
666-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
777-575: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
888-574: A concrete lighthouse at Maughers Beach. Another Martello tower stood on Georges Island . Four Martello towers were built at Kingston, Ontario to defend its harbour and naval shipyards in response to the Oregon Crisis . Their builders intended for the towers to serve as redoubts against marine attacks. Murney Tower and the tower at Point Frederick (at the Royal Military College of Canada ) are now museums that are open during
999-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
1110-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
1221-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
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#17327904488871332-576: A gale on 4 December 1811, 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, with approximately 200 bodies washed up on shore. Due to its natural shelter and its depth, the lough was an important naval port. In October 1798, immediately prior to the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars ,
1443-605: A medical student but later to become famous in Irish history as a surgeon, politician and writer. In Ulysses , the fictional character Stephen Dedalus lives in the tower with a medical student, Malachi "Buck" Mulligan, whom Joyce based on Gogarty. The James Joyce Tower , as the tower is now known, houses a museum dedicated to Joyce. A number of other Martello towers are extant nearby at Bullock Harbour , Dalkey Island , Williamstown , Seapoint and Sandymount and Martello towers feature in many literary works set in Dublin . During
1554-520: A number of shell middens dated to approximately 7000 BC. Swilly was the departure point for the ' Flight of the Earls ' in 1607. This event, which followed a failed uprising in September 1607, saw Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone , and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (the last Gaelic chieftains in Ireland at that time), set sail from Rathmullan with ninety of their followers. During
1665-533: A number of ship wrecks, including SS Laurentic sunk by a German mine (possible torpedo ), which went down with 3,211 ingots of gold of which 3,191 were recovered. The lough, and the Grianán Ailigh hill fort (early fortification and palace dating from 2000 to 5000 BC) at its southeastern bend, were recorded on Ptolemy 's map of the world . It has a number of early Stone Age monuments and Iron Age fortifications along its shores, as well as
1776-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1887-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
1998-521: A pivot (sometimes a converted cannon) for a cannon that would traverse a 360° arc. (Some towers were designed to carry more than one gun, with each having a more limited arc of fire.) The walls had narrow slits for defensive musket fire. The interior of a classic British Martello tower consisted of two storeys (sometimes with an additional basement). The ground floor served as the magazine and storerooms, where ammunition, water, stores and provisions were kept. The garrison of 24 men and one officer lived in
2109-485: A redoubt and a powder magazine. Restored, it is now a National Heritage site. The Duke of York Martello Tower was built in 1798 at York Redoubt . Its lower level still stands, though it has been boarded up for conservation purposes. The Duke of Clarence Martello Tower stood on the Dartmouth shore. Sherbrooke Martello Tower stood opposite York Redoubt on McNabs Island ; it was demolished in 1944 and replaced by
2220-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
2331-492: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
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#17327904488872442-590: A round fortress, part of a larger Genoese defence system, at Mortella (Myrtle) Point in Corsica . The designer was Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino (el Fratin), and the tower was completed in 1565. Since the 15th century, the Corsicans had built similar towers at strategic points around the island to protect coastal villages and shipping from North African pirates . The towers stood one or two storeys high and measured 12–15 m (39–49 ft) in diameter, with
2553-400: A single doorway five metres off the ground that one could access only via a ladder that the occupants could remove. Local villagers paid for the towers and watchmen, known as torregiani , who would signal the approach of unexpected ships by lighting a beacon fire on the tower's roof. The fire would alert the local defence forces to the threat. Although the pirate threat subsequently dwindled,
2664-600: A single political entity, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , from 1801 to 1922, spanning the time during which most Martello towers were erected (the initial scheme started under the previous entities of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland ). Consequently, the Martello towers of Great Britain and Ireland can be considered to have been part of a single defensive system, designed to protect
2775-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
2886-603: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
2997-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
3108-653: Is available. Three Martello towers were built in Scotland, the first on offshore rocks facing the Firth of Forth in 1807–1809 to defend Leith Harbour. The Tally Toor now lies land-locked within the eastern breakwater. Two towers were then built at Hackness and Crockness , near Longhope in Orkney. They were constructed between 1813 and 1815 to guard against the threat of French and American raiders attacking convoys assembling offshore. Historic Scotland now operates
3219-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
3330-645: Is located in a residential area on the north side of the Upper City overlooking Lower Town. It is now used as an escape game tourist activity by The National Battlefields Commission. Halifax, Nova Scotia , had five towers, the oldest of which, the Prince of Wales Tower located in Point Pleasant Park , is the oldest Martello-style tower in North America. It was built in 1796 and was used as
3441-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
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3552-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
3663-564: Is surrounded by a dry moat. The tower's purpose was to defend the Ferry Reach Channel and so impede any attack on St. George's Island from the main island of Bermuda, and attacking vessels from slipping through Castle Harbour and the channel between Ferry Reach and Coney Island . The main channel by which vessels reach most parts of Bermuda west of St. George's, including the Royal Naval Dockyard , on Ireland ,
3774-603: Is the highest building on Barbuda and serves as a daymark from land or sea. Today the fort is a popular location for weddings. The last Martello tower built in the British Empire is said to be that which composes a part of the larger Fort Denison , built on a small island, Pinchgut Island, in Sydney Harbour , New South Wales . It is the only Martello tower to have been built in Australia. Fortification of
3885-666: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
3996-513: The Anglo-Irish Treaty until its final handing over at Fort Dunree in 1938. According to exhibits at Fort Dunree, during World War II Irish troops operated the guns there with explicit instructions to fire at any ship that might threaten Irish neutrality by entering the natural harbour. On one occasion in this period, a Royal Navy ship entered the lough and – while it did not initially respond to signals that it should turn back – left
4107-579: The British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts . They stand up to 40 feet (12 m) high (with two floors) and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15–25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on
4218-597: The Grand Fleet , an amalgamation of the pre-war Home and Atlantic Fleets, under Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe and a gathering/staging point for Atlantic convoys. During this period a boom was placed across the lough between Macamish Point and Ned's Point, 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
4329-532: The Great Sound , Hamilton Harbour , The Flatts , Murray's Anchorage , and other important sites, carries them around the east ends of St. David's and St. George's Islands, where the coastal artillery was always most heavily concentrated. Two more Martello towers to protect the Dockyard were planned, but never built. The tower was restored in 2008 and an 18-pounder cannon brought from Fort St. Catherine
4440-508: The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway constructed embankments on the line from Derry to Letterkenny. These reclaimed lands are now wetlands associated with wildlife conservation and birdwatching , and support over 4,000 whooper swans and thousands of Greenland white front , barnacle , greylag and brent geese. The lough is known for its wildlife-watching (dolphins, porpoise, seabirds, migratory geese and swans) and diving on
4551-599: The Plains of Abraham , overlooking the St Lawrence River . It has been restored as a museum and can be visited during the summer months. Tower no. 2 stands close nearby and currently hosts activities for private groups. Tower No. 3 was demolished in 1905 after being used as a residence. The McKenzie Memorial Building of Jeffery Hale Hospital now occupies the site. The fourth surviving Martello Tower in Quebec, No. 4,
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4662-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
4773-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
4884-518: The 1980s, Bono owned the Martello tower in Bray , County Wicklow . Martello Tower South No.7, on Tara Hill, Killiney Bay, is unique, as is its location as an enfilading tower . The Tower is privately owned and has been fully restored, to include a proofed, working King George 3rd Blomefield 18-pounder cannon mounted on a traversing carriage on the crown of the Tower. There is a three-gun battery below
4995-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
5106-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
5217-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
5328-509: The British government embarked on a large-scale programme of building Martello towers to guard the British and Irish coastlines. Around 140 were built, mostly along the south coast of England . Governments in Australia , Canada , Menorca , South Africa and Sri Lanka also constructed towers. The construction of Martello towers abroad continued until as late as the 1870s but was discontinued after it became clear that they could not withstand
5439-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
5550-558: The Genoese built a newer generation of circular towers (the Genoese towers ), that warded off later foreign raids. On 7 February 1794 as part of the siege of Saint-Florent , two British warships, HMS Fortitude (74 guns) and Juno (32 guns), unsuccessfully attacked the tower at Mortella Point; the tower eventually fell to land-based forces under Sir John Moore after two days of heavy fighting. The British forces were helped by
5661-571: The Hackness tower as a museum. A small number of Martello towers were also built in Wales, of which few survive. The most notable surviving towers are the two located in Pembroke Dock , which were built between 1848 and 1857 to protect the naval base there. Today, one of the towers is privately owned. The other is located on the town's riverfront, next to the old entrance of the naval base. It
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#17327904488875772-705: The Irish Naval Service HQ) and at Belvelly and Rossleague on the Great Island (near Cobh ). There are also Martello towers at Little Island and Rostellan , though these are no longer intact. The British built two Martello towers on the Hook Peninsula to protect the fort near Duncannon , County Wexford and the entrance to Waterford Harbour. There is a third tower on the headland at Baginbun Bay in County Wexford. One of
5883-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
5994-606: The Napoleonic Wars. It is square rather than round, unlike the traditional Martello tower. This tower is known locally as the Gabhla Fhranca ("French Tower") or the Napoleonic Tower. It is marked on an 1838 Ordnance Survey chart and denoted "Signal Tower", suggesting it was used with a series of other stations for communication. The tower's position offers a view of the sea both to the north and south of
6105-424: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
6216-436: The area without any action being taken. The trains of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway served the area around Lough Swilly until 1953, when the company's trains were replaced by buses. These operated until 2014, when the company was closed down and liquidated. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
6327-577: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
6438-403: The claims made in Barbudan tourism publications that this was the World's first, and is its oldest, Martello tower, built in 1745. The tower is located on the south coast of the island, a mile or so from River Landing and some seven miles south of the island's main village of Codrington . The tower is 56 feet high, has a raised gun platform and extremely thick walls, but is missing the floors. It
6549-419: The coastlines of the two main islands of the British Isles as a whole. This is most clearly visible on the south and east coasts of England and the east coast of Ireland , where chains of Martello towers were built. Elsewhere in the world, individual Martello towers were erected to provide point defence of strategic locations. Between 1804 and 1812 the British authorities built a chain of towers based on
6660-402: The design. But they got the name wrong, misspelling "Mortella" as "Martello" (which means "hammer" in Italian). When the British withdrew from Corsica in 1803, with great difficulty they blew up the tower , leaving it in an unusable state. The towers were about 40 feet (12 m) high with walls about 8 feet (2.4 m) thick. In some towers the rooms were not built in the centre, but more to
6771-664: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
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#17327904488876882-426: The effect of thirty years of evolution on the design of coastal fortifications, between the 1790s and 1822. The earlier Ferry Island Fort nearby had multiple guns arrayed to cover the water westward, while the Martello tower used a single gun with 360° traverse to cover all of the surrounding area. Like its predecessors in the UK, it has an ovoid footprint with the thickness of its walls ranging from nine to 11 feet. It
6993-414: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
7104-467: The existing fortifications at Fort Henry received two thin towers between 1845 and 1848. However, these are dry ditch defence towers, rather than true Martello towers.) A common characteristic of Canadian Martello towers was removable cone-shaped roofs to protect against snow. Today, many of the restored towers have permanent roof additions – for ease of upkeep, not historical accuracy. Quebec City originally had four Martello towers. Tower No. 1 stands on
7215-424: The fact that the tower's two 18-pounder guns fired seaward, while only the one 6-pounder could fire landward. Vice-Admiral Lord Hood reported: The Fortitude and Juno were ordered against it, without making the least impression by a continued cannonade of two hours and a half; and the former ship being very much damaged by red-hot shot, both hauled off. The walls of the Tower were of a prodigious thickness, and
7326-430: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
7437-405: The first such tower constructed in the Caribbean, was built in 1745 by Sir William Codrington , and was designed by Commodore Charles Knowles RN, later Admiral Sir Charles Knowles Bt, who was then commanding the Leeward Islands station. It is attached to what remains of the pre-existing fort. The tower mounted three cannon, and in all the fort mounted ten cannons, none of which remain. The tower
7548-422: The flat roof and able to traverse, and hence fire, over a complete 360° circle. A few towers had moats or other batteries and works attached for extra defence. The Martello towers were used during the first half of the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Many have survived to the present day, often preserved as historic monuments. Martello towers were inspired by
7659-420: The island and is therefore well-suited for that purpose. By the 1830s the tower was described as a "watch-house of the coast-guard." The British originally constructed River Fort Martello Tower in the early 19th century, on the site of a previous fort (presumed to have been built by the Spanish) to guard nearby River Landing, which was Barbuda 's original quay. Confusion with the previous fort presumably explains
7770-486: The island began in 1841 but was not completed. The construction had begun following an 1839 night-time incursion into Sydney Harbour by two American warships. Concern with the threat of foreign attack had caused the government to review the harbour's inner defences, which were found to be inadequate, and the establishment of a fort was recommended to help protect Sydney Harbour from attack by foreign vessels. Construction resumed in 1855 to provide Sydney with protection against
7881-400: The landside, leaving the walls thicker on seaside. These were cases where an attack with a cannon from the landside was thought very unlikely. Entry was by ladder to a door about 10 feet (3.0 m) from the base above which was a machicolated (slotted) platform which allowed for downward fire on attackers. The flat roof or terreplein had a high parapet and a raised platform in the centre with
7992-716: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
8103-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
8214-476: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
8325-558: The lough at Lenan Head with 9-inch (23 cm) guns (12-mile range) – the largest in Ireland at the time. The remains of these fortifications are still at Lenan Head Fort , Fort Dunree (now a military and wildlife museum), Ned's Point , Buncrana, Inch Fort and on the west coast at Rathmullan, Knockalla and Macamish Point . During the First World War, the lough was used by the Royal Navy as an anchorage for elements of
8436-523: The lough which were completed between 1800 and 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 smoothbore cannon, firing round shot and were completed in six months. Immediately prior to World War I the War Office improved the Napoleonic forts and their armaments as well as adding another fort at the entrance to
8547-582: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
8658-470: The most interesting Martello towers is Meelick Martello Tower at Clonahenoge , County Offaly , guarding the Shannon river crossing to Meelick, County Galway . As this tower supports three guns (unlike the normal Martello tower which is circular on plan and carries only one gun), it is cam shaped on plan. Currently a rampant growth of ivy covers the tower. The tower at Seapoint , County Dublin , which
8769-804: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
8880-523: The new generation of rifled artillery weapons. The French built similar towers along their own coastline that they used as platforms for communication by optical telegraphs (using the Chappe Telegraph ). The United States government also built a number of Martello towers along the east coast of the US that copied the British design with some modifications. Great Britain and Ireland were united as
8991-469: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
9102-417: The northern extremities of the lough are marked by Fanad Head with its lighthouse and Dunaff Head. Towns situated on the lough include Buncrana on Inishowen and Rathmullan on the western side. At the southern end of the lough lies Letterkenny . In the south of the lough a number of islands (Burt, Inch , Coney, Big Isle) were poldered and the land reclaimed during the 19th century for agriculture and
9213-655: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
9324-487: The original Mortella tower to defend the south and east coast of England , Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey to guard against possible invasion from France , then under the rule of Napoleon I . A total of 103 Martello towers were built in England, set at regular intervals along the coast from Seaford , Sussex , to Aldeburgh , Suffolk . Most were constructed under the direction of General William Twiss (1745–1827) and
9435-503: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
9546-494: The parapet, where there were two eighteen-pounders, was lined with bass junk, five feet from the walls, and filled up with sand; and although it was cannonaded from the Height for two days, within 150 yards, and appeared in a very shattered state, the enemy still held out; but a few hot shot setting fire to the bass, made them call for quarter. The number of men in the Tower were 33; only two were wounded, and those mortally. Late in
9657-557: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
9768-471: The previous year, the tower's French defenders had abandoned it after HMS Lowestoffe (32 guns) had fired two broadsides at it. The British removed the guns to arm a small vessel; consequently, the French were easily able to dislodge the garrison of Corsican patriots that had replaced them. Still, the British were impressed by the effectiveness of the tower when properly supplied and defended, and copied
9879-509: The re-use of their masonry. The sea washed thirty away and the military destroyed four in experiments to test the effectiveness of the new rifled artillery. During the Second World War , some Martello towers returned to military service as observation platforms and firing platforms for anti-aircraft artillery . Forty-seven Martello towers have survived in England, a few of which have been restored and transformed into museums (e.g.,
9990-492: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
10101-488: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
10212-647: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
10323-557: The same derivation, and are sometimes associated with a legendary multi-eyed sea monster , Suileach , that was reputedly killed by Saint Colmcille (521–597). In The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places (1900), the historian Patrick Weston Joyce writes that súil may refer to whirlpools or to eyes and that suileach means "abounding in eyes or whirlpools". Located on the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal,
10434-455: The smaller towers as well as being powerful fortifications in their own right. The effectiveness of Britain's Martello towers was never actually tested in combat against a Napoleonic invasion fleet. They were, however, effective in hindering smuggling. After the threat had passed, the Martello towers in England met a variety of fates. The Coastguard took over many to aid in the fight against smuggling. Fifteen towers were demolished to enable
10545-549: The south coast of Galway Bay in the townlands of Finavarra and Aughinish . There is also an extant Martello tower located near the settlement of Magilligan Point in County Londonderry , built between 1812 and 1871 to defend against a possible French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars ; it is now a visitor attraction. A Martello-like tower was built on Achill Island , according to local memory during
10656-514: The south coast. On the east coast, concentrated mainly around Dublin Bay, twenty-six towers were in line of sight of each other, providing the ability to communicate with one another, or warn of any incoming attacks. Possibly the most famous is the Martello tower in Sandycove , near Dún Laoghaire , in which James Joyce lived for a few days. Joyce shared the tower with Oliver St. John Gogarty , then
10767-628: The threat of a naval attack by the Russians during the Crimean War of the 1850s. However, construction was completed only in 1857, well after the war had ended. Fort Denison is well preserved and is now a popular tourist attraction. There is a Martello tower located at Ferry Reach in St George's Parish . The tower is the third fortification on the site. Major Thomas Blanshard built it of Bermuda limestone between 1822 and 1823. The tower shows
10878-716: The tower, with a glacis . There is also a coach house, artillery store, tool shed, and gunner's cottage, with resident gunner and gunpowder store. The battery, while restored, remains to be armed and the coach house and artillery store still require some restoration. On the north side of Dublin, one can find Martello towers in Balbriggan , Shenick Island and Red Island at Skerries , Drumanagh Fort , Rush , Tower Bay in Portrane , Donabate , Malahide (Hicks tower owned by Tony Quinn ), Portmarnock , Ireland's Eye , Howth , and Sutton . There were seven Martello towers in
10989-469: The towers at St Osyth and Seaford ), visitor centres, and galleries (such as Jaywick Martello Tower ). Some are privately owned or are private residences, The remainder are derelict. A survey of the East Coast towers in 2007 found of the 17 remaining, most were in a reasonable condition. Many remaining Martello Towers are now Listed Buildings . A fuller list of British towers, with photographs,
11100-726: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
11211-583: The vicinity of Cork Harbour of which five are extant. During the 19th century Fenian uprising , the famous Captain Mackey briefly captured and held the Monning Martello tower near Fota Island in Cork Harbour ; this tower is believed to have been the only Martello tower ever captured, other than the original. The other Cork Harbour towers are at Ringaskiddy , Haulbowline Island (now part of
11322-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
11433-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
11544-449: Was converted into a small museum that focused on the local history of the dock and its defences. The museum has now shut down because of water influx. Recently Pembrokeshire County Council has decided to put the tower up for sale. About fifty Martello towers were built around the Irish coastline, especially along the east coast, from Millmount (Drogheda), to Bray , around Dublin Bay (29 installations) but also around Cork Harbour on
11655-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
11766-540: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Martello tower Martello towers , sometimes known simply as Martellos , are small defensive forts that were built across
11877-598: Was mounted on top. The site is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday in the summer and in the winter by appointment only, by calling the Parks Department. It is part of the Bermuda Railway Trail. When the British rebuilt Fort Recovery on the west end of Tortola they added a Martello tower. Nine of the fourteen Martello towers built in Canada still survive. (In addition,
11988-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
12099-637: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
12210-804: Was the property of Blackrock Urban District Council, was formerly the clubhouse of the Seapoint Boat Club from 1916 to 1931, and was subsequently the headquarters of the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). The GSI vacated the tower when it found that the atmosphere was not conducive to the preservation of records. The restored tower at Ilnacullin is a feature of an island garden in Glengarriff , County Cork . Several other towers are still extant, including one at Rathmullan in County Donegal and two in County Clare on
12321-495: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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