Neds Point Fort, Napoleonic fort on Lough Swilly, County Donegal, Ireland
Ned's Point Fort is a Napoleonic battery on Ned's Point near Buncrana, County Donegal, built to defend Lough Swilly. Its current form largely dates to 1812–1813: a rectangular blockhouse mounting two guns, a supporting battery for four guns, and a surrounding ditch. The tower was later lowered and an underground magazine added.
Ned's Point Fort was built as part of a scheme to fortify Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle against French invasion during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; its current form largely dates to works completed between 1812 and 1813. It comprised a rectangular blockhouse mounting two guns and a supporting battery mounting four guns. After the Napoleonic Wars the defences were neglected and not updated until 1874, when it was armed with two 5.5-inch howitzers in the tower and four 24-pounder smooth bore guns in the main battery.
The fort's name comes from Ned's Point, the headland near Buncrana where it stands. Buncrana was a naval town, and the battery was one of several built along Lough Swilly's shores. The site is not open to the public, though walking routes pass nearby, so the fort is seen from outside.
The fort itself is not open to the public, so the site is viewed from outside; walking routes pass through the surrounding area near Buncrana. Parts of the site were restored by Buncrana Town Council in the 1990s, with further restoration work under way as of 2012.
The fort was disarmed by 1907 on the recommendation of the Owen Committee, and a 1913 report listed no armament there. Two practice batteries for six 64-pounder guns and four 5-inch breech-loading guns were built alongside the main work in the 1890s.
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