Spike island, or ‘Spike’, is located in Co Cork, off the cost of Cobh, formally known as Queenstown, and its origin dates back more than 40 million years ago to the natural development of Cork harbour, writes Donal Collins.
It has had a varied past, from its first inhabitation to incarceration, to playing a key role in the UK’s war efforts in the First World War to its current present use as a tourist attraction. Its history and evolution over time is varied.
The second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney
In geographic and topographic terms, Spike is located in the mouth of Cork harbour, the second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney.
Interestingly, the rock of the harbour, and especially surrounding Spike Island, dips at 45 degrees thus forming the large berm shape to the island which rises to 41m above sea level. The island rises to a flat plaque with all four sides falling off to the sea level below surrounding it.
Originally, Spike, with an area of 42 hectares (103 acres), was the site of a monastic settlement. Its early history dates back to St Mochuacha who founded a monastery there in the seventh century when the island was 'Rahen'.
The ruins of this settlement were still visible up to 1774, with the first military embattlements being built in about 1780. In 1178, records show how Spike Island was surrendered by Diarmaid Mac Carthaigh Mór, King of Desmond, to the Normans.
Up to 1641 the island was in possession of the Roche and Galvey families and had to forfeit possession until King Charles reversed possession in 1660. In 1698 the island was conveyed to William Smith of Ballymore on the Great Island.
The island was leased for fortification in 1770 by the British with the first fortification built on Spike Island in 1779.
In 1789, Cornel Charles Vallancey of the Cops of Engineers, was responsible for the fortifications in Cork harbour and persuaded the then Lord Westmorland to construct a permanent fortification on Spike Island with the work to be undertaken by the Irish Board of Ordnance.
In 1790 the Earl or Lord Westmorland visited Spike Island and named the incomplete structure Fort Westmorland. In 1794, the Earl departed, and the construction was halted; by 1797 it was still not complete and would take another 70 years.
In 1801, the Act of Union, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was responsible for additional fortifications in Ireland and abolished the Irish Board of Ordnance which was constructing the fort.
The project was taken over by the Board of Ordnance in London. The original estimate to construct it was £10,000 with free labour. This proved to be a modest sum as with scarcity of materials the final sum was more than £1,000,000.
Digging of the moat and wall fortification
The construction of Westmorland Fort begun with the levelling of the peak of the berm shape of the island on top where the fort sits today. The area was excavated and graded to the present level 45.5m OD. Then the serious excavation work began in the digging of the moat and wall fortification which were dug to 6m below the established formation level.
The area at formation consisting of 32 acres with the excavated material transported to form the playing pitch on the southwest corner of the island. The moat and wall excavation with battered sides in sandstone rock was excavated with steam driven machines.
Cross section of the Moat and Main Fort Defense Wall, showing schematic view of Tunnel and Passages below ground.
The walls were constructed on a rock formation and built up the ground level on the external wall and 4m above formation on the inner defence wall incorporating the six star-shaped bastions. At the latter end of the project Youghal brick was sourced as the main building material and was transported to the island by coastal vessels.
The inner fort wall, ie the defence wall incorporates six star-shaped bastions with the corner ones measuring 1,600m2 on plan. The centre stars are of larger construction measuring 23,000m2 on plan.
The entire inner defence wall covers an area of 11 acres with the moat area covering an area of 10 acres. The inside of the fort enclosure bounded by the inner defence wall covers an area of 11.53 acres in which the army barracks and other buildings were built with the shell standing still today.
The fort was constructed with convict labour and some or all of these convicts were transported to Australia and Barbados. It a known fact that 65% of the fort is located underground in a labyrinth of tunnels and passages.
Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1921, it was agreed that that ‘Treaty Ports’, of which Spike was one, would continue to be retained by the UK government due to the ongoing prevalence of U-Boats in the Atlantic.
Following the cessation of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1937, it became clear that the UK was open to returning the ports, on the provision that they could be used in a time of war.
The ports were subsequently returned in 1938 to Ireland, despite the protestation of certain MPs in London, one such was Winston Churchill, calling into question De Valera and the Irish government’s trustworthiness.
In 1938, after the handover of the fort, it was renamed Fort Mitchell with Fort Camden and Fort Carlisle each renamed Fort Meagher and Fort Davis respectively.
The population of Spike Island varied from 202 people in 1841 to 580 at the turn of the 1900s; by 1966 it had declined to less than 200, while by the turn of the millennium the island was essentially uninhabited.
Over the course of its varied history, Spike Island was used as a prison on four occasions spanning more than 400 years.
- 1,600 Cromwellian prisoners;
- 1840 largest prison in the world;
- 1921 held more than 1,200 republican prisoners;
- 1985-2004 young offenders.
The fort has undergone a series of changes over the years from being used as a convict prison from 1847 to 1883 to a military fort. The fort lay idle for many years, and following a number of archaeological digs on the Island in 2013 and 2014. Following this, and gaining national and local interest, there were calls for the island to be restored and to create an authentic tourist site.
Today, Spike Island and its wonderful attraction allows visitors to tour the fortifications, engage in the history of the site, while also understanding what life was like for captive staying in the prison.
Author: Donal Collins.