'O! the French are on the sea,
says the Shan Van Vocht.'

In the old churchyard at Colley near Moville, famous for an ancient cross 'as grey as a ghost and as old as St. Patrick.' there is a handsome tombstone to Ann Cary, the second wife of Robert Cary of Carrowtrasna, Greencastle; and to Marino Porter, who was married to their daughter, Marino Porter had the grand title of Inspector of the Port of Greencastle, but this probably only meant that he was a Custom Officer, who tried to collect revenue from the fish trade with the Continent.

Marino Porter's daughter married Samuel Montgomery, a wine merchant in Derry, and in 1728 he bought the 'seven ballybos of Ballynelly' and the 'mill ballybo' and on this ground there is now not only Newpark, the home of Field-Marshal Lord Montgomery's family, but also the town of Moville, which was not built until about 1820. A Ballybo is an ancient measure of land connected with the grazing of a cow, and Greencastle Fort is in the townland of Eleven Ballyboes.

St. Finian's Church at Greencastle was built in 1783, by the famous Lord Bristol, Bishop of Derry, who travelled extensively on the continent, where a number of hotels were named 'Bristol' after him.

In 1752 a Dr. Pococke made a tour of Ireland, which included Inishowen, and he gives this account of a visit to Greencastle:

'I ... came to the Lough of Derry near Moville Parish, where Mr. O Neal has a house pleasantly situated, and I went two miles to the north along the shore to Greencastle, where I dined. I went to see the fine old castle, built on a rock, the entrance to which is defended by two towers, where the chief apartments were; the north end is also defended by towers, and it is a strong and delightful situation, it was the strength of the O Doherties... This castle may have its name from the green fire stone it is built of. A quarter of a mile away from it is a chapel which seems to have been built with pinnacles and with large window, and is very uncommon in this country.'

He was also at Malin Head and describes the beach there 'of pebbles which are esteemed the best in Ireland, except those of a port to the north of Greencastle. They are mostly Jaspar, some Jaspar Agates, Cornelian, and Agates; I met with one which seems to be Chalcedony.'

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was great fear of an invasion by Napoleon, and in 1801 Martello towers were hastily built to defend the approaches to Londonderry, six on Loch Swilly an two at the mouth of Loch Foyle, one of the latter being at Greencastle and one on Magilligan Point opposite. They were built in six months, cost €1,800 each, and were armed with smooth bore cannon, firing round shot.

After the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Martello tower at Greencastle was extended to a fort , with accommodation for four officers and forty-two artillerymen, and, with the battery on the opposite side of the water, mounted twenty-six guns. It was completed in 1812, according to the date inscribed over the archway.

The upper story over the archway was probably added in 1838, when the Fort was turned into a barracks. In 1837 there was only a Master gunner and five artillerymen stationed in the Fort, but about a year later the force was increased to some eighty men.

There are some interesting facts about Greencastle at this time; a court for the Manor of Greencastle was still held monthly, probably in the yard of the Manor House; there were stations of the constabulary and revenue police, tide-waiters and pilots of the port of Londonderry, and coastguard stations at Greencastle and at Kinnego. Two lighthouses were being built by the Ballast Board in consequence of the numerous shipwrecks that took place on the sandbank called 'The Tonns,' near the entrance to the Loch.

In 1861 one of the Master Gunners bought a piece of land from Elizabeth McClelland, of the Manor House, on which 'Summerville' was built, some of his cannon-balls can be seen on the wall in the front garden.

In 1867 there was a Magnetic Telegraph Station in Greencastle in the house now owned by Mr. Kealy, and a few years ago traces of its former use were found when the interior of the house was being redecorated.

There used to be a wooden wharf beyond the flat ground beside the Post Office, and near it was the old Ferry Inn; but it was pulled down, and re-built on the opposite side of the road, where the Greencastle Bar is now, and at one time it was called 'The William and Elizabeth,' after William and Elizabeth McCleland, who owned most of the surrounding land.

The last Commandant of the Fort was Captain Dunlop, who retired in 1870, but Brigadier-General Gordon was stationed there as a young man in 1877, and in The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon relates his experiences at the Fort:

'...And I must also pass over the six weeks of what in those days appeared to me as the term of solitary confinement right away at Greencastle Fort, at the entrance to Lough Foyle. I went up there in the winter. Greencastle village was a small summer resort for the people of Londonderry. There was a hotel, which was open in the summer, and was managed by a man and his two sisters. In the winter it was shut up. A few small cottages were also closed up. The population consisted of the policeman and three or four fishermen. There was nothing to do for the men at the Fort, except a little gun drill. The nearest village was Moville, some four miles off. It was too rough as a rule to go fishing with any degree of comfort, so it was that I learned to play marbles. The old policeman, a couple of fishermen, and the hotel-keeper, when he was sober - which was not often - were quite experts, and taught me the game. They called it 'Three Hole.'

Another glimpse of life at the Fort is given by Bishop Montgomery in an article in the Londonderry Sentinel:

'I remember in the sixties being present in the fort when gun practice was in progress. The guns were smooth-bore muzzle-loaders, firing round shot, many of the latter being yet visible before the doors of our house. One could see the shot all the way, forming a curve in the air, and falling into the sea near the other side.'

He also says that after the departure of Captain Dunlop, the force was in charge of a succession of Master Gunners, who were a fine body of officers.

During the latter half of the nineteenth century the Fort was used as a recruiting depot, but in 1891 or '92 it was considered obsolete; the guns were hurled from the top of the tower to the grass beneath, and were taken to the mountain to be blown up. The Donegal Militia was the last military force to be stationed there.

I am indebted to Mr. Ward Jackson of London for the following reconstruction of the Fort as it was then first occupied:

'In the Lower Works, accessible from the Upper only by a narrow circular stone stairway, there is the Sally Port at the south-west corner which provided the only direct egress to the beach below.

'In the sheltered bays are the semi-circular Gun Emplacements from which cannon fire could be directed over the approaches to the mile wide strait, each with its repository for ammunition tucked away well under the parapet.

'In the centre of the Lower Works is the cave-like main Magazine, earthed over and grass grown, with doors copper-covered to minimise danger from sparks, hot-shot and other unwelcome incendaries; a Magazine, by the way, of 262 barrels. In the event of the Magazine being hit and blown up resistance could still be continued from the Upper Works. Local tradition has it that there is a tunnel connecting the Magazine with the old castle ruins; if this is correct, it is likely that this tunnel existed long before 1812, the Magazine being sited over the tunnel exit undesignedly.

'Either flank of the Lower Works is covered by loop-holed curtain walls commanding the dry ditch and the northern glacis and, to the west, the scrub of the castle ruins. At the base of each wall are barrack rooms from which, at the alarm, the loop-holes on the fire-step of the roof could be immediately manned. The approach to the stairway to the Upper Works is covered by a loop-hole above, from which any assault party would come under direct fire.

'On the Upper Rampart, of Works, are similar gun emplacements. Beneath the stone terrace the reserve water tank still exists; this was supplied by a two-man hand-pump in a field nearby.

'At the base of the north wall (landward attack was always a possibility from troops landed at Glenagivney Bay four miles over the mountains) are several more small vaulted barrack rooms from which the loop-holes above could be manned promptly; the first floor rooms over them are in addition since 1825.

'Also on the Upper Rampart was a Reserve Magazine (demolished) with a capacity of 200 barrels; the copper covered door to this was removed to the first floor over the sitting room.

'Visitors also notice the Dry-Ditch covered by loops-holes from which a devastating cross-fire could be delivered, the Ditch Guard Room, the cell, Army Service Corps Store, and - need one say it - Canteen.

'The Tower fulfilled the triple purpose of observation post, gun-site and strong point. Its purpose in relation to the rest of the fort was much the same as the Keep in the Red Earl's nearby castle. Like others, it is a structure of solid masonry, containing three vaulted rooms (one above the other and connected by trap-doors) for the garrison, reserve ammunition and food, etc., and providing a platform at the top for guns to fire over a low masonry parapet. Access is provided by a ladder, communicating with a door about 10 feet above the ground level of the flagged terrace. The entire garrison of the fort could retire to the tower, if necessary, and continue their operations from there.'

The soldiers have gone, from castle and from fort, but 'The sea still laps the rock below the battlements and fills with its tippling music the turf-scented salty air; robins sing quietly, as if to themselves, in the sheltered thickets; jackdaws clack ceaselessly on chimneys and sunny ledges or wheel overhead between fort and castle surveying the amenities of both; and the hum of the wind, in every key, is heard from look-out to dungeon.'

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