|
The French are on the sea .... A Military History of Killiney Bay, 1793 to 1815 |
|
I first developed an interest in local history through the railways and the Lawrence collection of photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A friend, Brian Reynolds, had an all consuming passion for the railways and introduced me to the Lawrence collection. These were photos from all around Ireland that frequently appeared on the walls of railway carriages. They covered almost everywhere in the country. They had been photographed on large glass plates, which were held in the National Library of Ireland and which were available for consultation by bona fide students. I not only searched the Lawrence collection for photos of interest in the context of Ballybrack/Killiney (South County Dublin), but also consulted the Hayes catalogue of manustript documents, which was basically a large card index available in "book" form. I found lots of interesting references in the Hayes catalogue, but one of the most intriguing was "Reconnoise Militaire de la Baye de Killiney" by a Major La Chaussée, and dated 1797. I thought I had found hard evidence not only of Napoleon's intention to invade Ireland but to do it on my doorstep in Killiney Bay. As I read through the very elegantly written french document I was intrigued by the writers intimate knowledge of the area, including the names of the occupants of the big houses. Imagine my initial disappointment when I realised that the Major was working not for the French but for the British. Nevertheless I persevered and discovered a masterly military analysis of Killiney Bay from the point of view of a defence against a Napoleonic invasion, and one which underpinned the subsequent construction of the Martello Towers and batteries around the bay. Combining this with other material, such as Kevin Murray's article on the Loughlinstown Camp, additional research of sources and my own familiarity with the area, I wrote "The French are on the sea ...". It was originally written in Irish and entered for the Oireachtas local history competition, where it won a prize. An English language version was subsequently published in the Irish Sword, the journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, after the editing out of unsuitable anti-British references by the then editor, Prof. G. A. Hayes-McCoy, M.A.,Ph.D..,D.Litt.,M.R.I.A. Text is here. I subsequently learned, in conversation with the librarian in Trinity College, that Captain Armstrong's diaries had been donated to the library as part of the Dillon collection of papers. A small portion of these diaries concerns Armstrong's period at the Loughlinstown Camp and gives a further insight into his dealings with the United Irishmen. I wrote up these parts and this was published in the "notes" section of the Irish Sword.Text is here. I subsequently worked the material into a lecture with visual displays, both slides and display panels, and delivered it to the Rathmichael Historical Society, the Dún Laoghaire Historical Society and the Blackrock Historical Society. I am working on uploading some of this visual material to my site, and so far have put up a page on the Loughlinstown Camp, here. I have also put up an interactive Google map which illustrates La Chaussée's report and also the subsequent permanent defences erected in the Bay. |