Council should buy Martello Tower on coast near Donabate, Fingal councillors urge

The door into the Martello tower in Balcarrick was blocked off by a sheet of rusting metal on Sunday afternoon, and secured by two padlocks and a chain.

Its large rectangular window was sealed up with cement bricks, and one of the four smaller square ones was stuffed with litter.

A steady stream of punters parked their cars nearby and marched along the rugged walkway along the coast from the tower up to Portrane.

There wasn’t a “for sale” sign outside the granite structure overlooking Donabate Beach. 

But over on the property website Daft.ie, there is an advertisement, listing this “detached” Napoleonic-era defence structure as for sale.

It is a shell and core, the ad said, showing images of a bare interior with a fireplace, the wooden beans below the damaged floorboard, algae growing through a window and crumbling plaster on the walls.

Calling on cash buyers, the ad calls it an “extraordinary opportunity” to acquire and restore an “extraordinary property in an extraordinary location”.

The asking price is €375,000, the ad says.

The property is in private ownership, and there haven’t been any offers on it to date, said Tim Hanway, a senior staff officer in Fingal County Council’s Property Services Division said on 15 January at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting.

The council is trying to find funding with a view to potentially acquiring it, he said when asked by councillors if the council might purchase the property. “We have been in touch with the estate agent acting for the vendor, and flagged the council’s interest.”

This is a national monument with huge historical importance to Donabate and the wider Fingal area, said Labour Councillor Corina Johnston, speaking on Monday. “It’d be fantastic as a museum or heritage centre.”

It would be a shame if the council couldn’t make that happen, she said. “But look, I’m hopeful. Fingal is actively pursuing it and we may get a positive outcome.”

Detached home, perfect for 24-pound gun

Balcarrick Martello Tower was one of 28 coastal defence structures built along Dublin’s coast by the British to stave off the threat of invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century, according to a 2008 Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) report.

It was built circa 1805, according to the National Built Heritage Service website, with the IHBC report noting that it was “bombproof” and armed with one 24-pound gun.

The tower was disarmed in 1874, the 2008 reports notes, before it passed into private ownership on 29 March 1909 for a total cost of £75.

Over the course of the 20th century, the owner made modifications to the interior, the 2008 report says, with a 1975 “for sale” notice saying it comprised an entrance hall with two rooms and an opening that was made “at enormous expense”.

The “for sale” notice also took care to mention that its walls could withstand Napoleon’s cannons.

In 1990, the tower was put back on the market, the report says, noting that it had since been unoccupied and derelict.

But, after a new notice appeared on the Daft.ie website in November, local elected representatives were quick to swoop in on the opportunity to bring the tower into public ownership.

On 4 December, Labour TD Duncan Smith asked Christopher O’Sullivan, the Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to give serious consideration to acquiring the tower, which is a recorded national monument.

O’Sullivan didn’t give a commitment, saying a possible acquisition like this would be considered within the context of available resources.

All potential acquisitions carefully take into consideration similar existing properties within the national monument portfolio, as well as the cost of purchase and maintenance, he said. 

“Accordingly, my Department is only ever in a position to make a very limited number of acquisitions as all related expenditure must be met from within existing voted allocations,” he said.

Searching for funding streams

Last Thursday, Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth tabled a motion at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords area committee meeting, asking if Fingal County Council would buy the property with the intention of preserving it.

The council was consulting with internal stakeholders on the future potential of the tower, said Aoife Sheridan, a senior executive officer in Fingal’s Economic, Enterprise, Tourism, Cultural Development division.

But they would also need to consider the site’s constraints, the council’s strategic priorities as set out in its capital programme, and the availability of funding, whether from the Department of Heritage or other sources, she wrote.

“The acquisition and development of the property is contingent upon the availability of funding from a suitable source,” Sheridan said.

At the meeting, Johnston, the Labour councillor, said the tower was an important piece of local heritage. “It’d make a great tourist office. Look, the location itself is just historic. I think it’s really important that the council do all they can.”

Hanway, the senior staff officer in Fingal’s Property Services Division, said the estate agent is going to keep the council updated. “And there’s currently no offers in at the moment.”

Linking up the coast

Smyth, speaking on Monday, said there was a serious lack of infrastructure for youth services, dramatic societies and community organisations around Donabate, which has led to a growing demand among locals for more community spaces on the peninsula. “Let’s not miss the boat on this.”

The council is investing a lot in a planned coastal greenway for cyclists and pedestrians, running approximately 32 kilometres from Newbridge Demesne in Donabate to north Balbriggan, said Smyth.

Works are also underway to build footpaths and cycle lanes that connect Malahide and Donabate via a causeway across the Broadmeadow Estuary.

Coming down the line too is a plan to improve the cliff walk between Donabate and Portrane, and that is something a revitalised Martello Tower could get a boost from, Smyth said. “It could be linked into that.”

The cliff walkway between Donabate and Portane is right beside the tower.

On Sunday, some 30 locals – couples and families mostly – were convening around the Martello Tower and the neighbouring Shoreline Hotel, getting ready to embark on a trek north up to Portrane.

The sky was blue, and the rain had subsided, but puddles had gathered along the winding walkway towards Portrane, and some parts were slippy with mud.

It’s a nice route to take, but its paths aren’t all that inviting if you wanted to take the kids for a walk, Smyth said. “It’s not safe. It’s not safe for anyone who’s not fit and young, and you want it to be accessible as much as possible in the community.”

At the area committee meeting, on Thursday, Labour’s Johnston introduced a motion requesting that the council carry out remedial works on this cliff walk.

The council has appointed a multi-disciplinary consultancy firm to provide engineering services for the initial phases of the Portrane to Donabate cliff walk project Linda Lally, a senior engineer in Fingal’s Infrastructure and Transportation Department said.

Right now, the council is assessing route options, with this work set to be completed in the coming weeks, she said.

Any work on the project after this would require planning approval, continued funding and consultancy appointments, she said. “In the meantime, the Operations Department will endeavour to maintain the path surface and associated fencing.”

It wouldn’t be possible, however, to do intermediate or temporary drainage works, as those would require excavation and earth movement – which would mean planning permission, she said.

But, with plans in motion like the beach upgrades, the causeway, and the nearby greenway, there are a lot of opportunities to bring more people to the area, Smyth said. 

“It would be great to cycle to Donabate across the estuary, visit the beaches, head into Newbridge and towards Portrane,” he said.