Our first stop on the "Wild Wicklow Tour" was the Martello Tower in Sandy Cove. Our tour guide Mikey, who in my opinion would make a better comedian than tour guide, opted not to educate us on the historical importance of this place. This particular Martello Tower was built during the Napoleanic wars to defend Dublin Bay against naval fleets. The British Empire built these towers in several countries during their rule in the 19th century. They are defensive forts that stand up to 40 feet high and used to contain one officer and 25 men. However, this Martello Tower is one of a kind. James Joyce stayed here for a short while as a guest of Oliver St. John Gogarty. Gogarty was an Irish physician and ear surgeon, who was also a poet and writer, and a political figure of the Irish Free State. It is said that he is also the inspiration for "Ulysses'" Buck Mulligan. Joyce also chose this tower as Leopold Bloom's starting place in "Ulysses".
A piece of information that Mikey accurately informed us about is that some of the locals like to swim nude in the surrounding waters of this Martello Tower. Although we did not see any during our short time there, I can see how watching people swim naked in freezing water could be quite an attraction. This picture below was taken at the bottom of the road that leads up to the "Joyce Tower". Perhaps this is the entrance point of the nude swimmers. They might need to take a running start! This was the most exciting part of the Martello Tower for me, probably because I have never read Joyce's "Ulysses". Note to all visitors to Dublin: read "Ulysses", it will make your stay much more memorable.
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