Fort Camden and Fort Carlisle are dramatically situated on promontories at opposite sides of the entrance to Cork Harbour. Fort Camden can be accessed by going through the village of Crosshaven. To get to Fort Carlisle, one takes the Midleton road for Aghada and Whitegate.

The construction of both Forts Camden and Carlisle as we see them today started around 1780. The narrowest point of the harbour entrance was chosen to close the harbour to enemy invaders. However, there is evidence of fortifications on the Fort Camden site dating back to the mid-16 th century. Although it became derelict after the Battle of Kinsale, Fort Camden was strengthened by the Jacobites (supporters of King James VII) pending potential attack by the Williamites (supporters of William of Orange). It fired on the Williamites in 1690 as they entered Cork Harbour but was unable to stop their advance to Cork City.

Construction of the land front at Fort Camden was started by a contractor in 1862. However, the work was two years behind schedule and unsatisfactory. The defences at Fort Carlisle had been started by a contractor in 1861. This contractor went bankrupt two years later. Convict labour was used to complete the construction of both forts. At the end of 1867, the convicts were replaced by military and civilian labour.

Fort Camden and Fort Carlisle were presented to the Irish government in July 1938. At this time, the official names were changed: Fort Camden became Fort Meagher and Fort Carlisle became Fort Davis. Today, there is no public access to either fort. Fort Camden was last used during World War II. In 1987, An Bórd Fáilte was granted permission to carry out an architectural plan and feasibility study of the fort to assess its potential for tourism purposes. Two years later, when Cork County Council expressed interest in establishing a military museum there, the government handed Fort Camden over to Cork County Council. The fort still remains unused, but much of it is still in quite good condition. Various hut encampments still survive, as does the main body of the fort. In the centre is the caphouse for the spiral staircase which goes down to the underground ammunitions store. The rooms of the Brennan Torpedo installation are built into the cliff. These too are still intact, although the railings which led down into the water have mostly disappeared. Fort Carlisle is owned by the Department of Defence. Although less elaborate than Fort Camden, Fort Carlisle continues to be used by the defence forces for training.

Groups of forts built during the Victorian period on the report of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom were called Palmerston Forts after the then Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston. During this time, forts were built all over the UK, including Plymouth, Pembroke, Portland, Dover, Chatham and Medway. Unlike Fort Carlisle, Charles Fort or Fort Templebreedy, Fort Camden is acknowledged as being the only true Palmerstonian fort in Cork and one of the world’s finest examples of a coastal artillery fort.

Images taken from www.flickr.com/photos/kindle/sets/72057594078006222