Fort Camden and Fort Carlisle are dramatically situated on promontories at opposite sides of the entrance to Cork Harbour.  In the centre of the body of the fort is the caphouse for a spiral staircase which goes down to the underground ammunitions store. The rooms of the Brennan Torpedo installation are built into the cliff.
Spiral Staircase
Fort Camden was last used during World War II. In 1989, it was handed by the government over to Cork County Council. The fort remained unused, increasingly falling into disrepair, until 2010 when a voluntary community committee called Rescue Camden was set up to help with its restoration and development. The aim of Rescue Camden is to restore and develop Fort Camden to its former glory, creating a centre of tourism and heritage of local, national and international acclaim.

Rescue Camden operates in partnership with Cork County Council and with backing from FÁS. Volunteers work tirelessly throughout the winter and spring, clearing overgrowth, restoring rooms and, bit by bit, reopening the incredible labyrinth of underground tunnels and rooms to the public. Further information on the work of Rescue Camden and details of opening to the public can be found at www.rescuecamden.ie.
Fort Davis is located in Whitegate, County Cork and is currently property of the Irish Defence Forces. Prior to Ireland becoming a Republic it was named Fort Carlisle. It was renamed after Thomas Davis.
It was one of four fortifications that were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's to protect Cork Harbour. By virtue of Cork Harbour being a Treaty Port, it remained occupied by British Forces until 11th July 1938 when control was handed over to the Irish Defence Forces.

At present, the fort is still in use by the Irish Defence Forces as a training facility.
A ditch some thirty feet deep and forty feet wide along the headland cuts the fort off on the landward side. The ditch is covered by three single storey musketry caponiers built of concrete. These are plain and utilitarian compared with the caponier at Fort Camden and those at contemporary English forts. The terreplein is simple in construction, even though overgrown, and could easily accommodate the movable armament allotted to the fort. Fort Carlisle is in essence an enclosed position for eight separate gun batteries. The only core is the Napoleonic fort at the northern end just inside the entrance. The Napoleonic work is of triangular shape with one full bastion, two demi-bastions and a semi-circular one, which originally contained the main seaward firing battery, and is now a saluting battery with three 12-pdr QF guns.
Beside the southern demi-bastion of the old fort a zig-zag traverse leads down to the lower level of the fort with the majority of the Victorian batteries. The first battery is No 1 originally armed with four 7-inch RML guns on Moncrieff mountings. Later, the battery was reconstructed to take three 12-pdr QF guns and the shield for one of them still survives. The battery was covered with a layer of concrete over the top of each open pit with the gun positioned on top. The old magazines were utilised for the QF guns. On leaving the battery there is a short vaulted tunnel with a flight of stairs that leads to No 2 Battery which is a casemated one for two 10-inch RML guns firing through armoured shields. On passing through the tunnel is No 3 Battery for four 7-inch RMLs on Moncrieff mountings. The Battery was never altered and the emplacements remain open and can be entered. There are short side tunnels connecting the emplacements with each other with the usual magazines leading off.