Irish round tower


Irish round towers, Cloigthithe are early medieval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with two in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man. As their name Cloigtheach indicates, they were originally bell towers, though they may have been later used for additional purposes.
A tower of this kind is generally found in the vicinity of a church or monastery, with the door of the tower facing the west doorway of the church. Knowledge of this fact has made it possible, where towers still exist, to determine without excavation the approximate sites of lost churches that once stood nearby.

Construction and distribution

Surviving towers range in height from to, and to in circumference; that at Kilmacduagh being the highest surviving in Ireland. The masonry differs according to date, the earliest examples being uncut rubble, while the later ones are of neatly joined stonework. The lower portion is solid masonry with a single door raised two to three metres above, often accessible only by a ladder. Within, in some, are two or more floors, usually of wood, and it is thought that there were ladders in between. The windows, which are high up, are slits in the stone. The cap, is of stone, usually conical in shape, although some of the towers are now crowned by a later circle of battlements.
The main reason for the entrance-way being built above ground level was to maintain the structural integrity of the building rather than for defence. The towers were generally built with very little foundation. The tower at Monasterboice has an underground foundation of only sixty centimetres. Building the door at ground level would weaken the tower. The buildings still stand today because their round shape is gale-resistant and the section of the tower underneath the entrance is packed with soil and stones.
The distance from the ground to the raised doorway is somewhat greater than that from the first floor to the second; thus large, rigid steps would be too large for the door. Excavations in the 1990s, revealing postholes, confirm that wooden steps were built. However, the use of ladders prior to the construction of such steps
cannot be ruled out.
The towers were probably built between the 9th and 12th centuries. In Ireland about 120 examples are thought once to have existed; most are in ruins, while eighteen to twenty are almost perfect. There are three examples outside Ireland. Two are in eastern Scotland: the Brechin Round Tower and the Abernethy Round Tower, and the other is in Peel Castle on St. Patrick's Isle, now linked to the Isle of Man.
Famous examples are to be found at Devenish Island, and Glendalough, while that at Clondalkin is the only round tower in Ireland to still retain its original cap. With five towers each, County Mayo, County Kilkenny and County Kildare have the most. Mayo's round towers are at Aughagower, Balla, Killala, Meelick and Turlough, while Kildare's are located at Kildare Cathedral, and also at Castledermot, Oughter Ard, Taghadoe and Old Kilcullen. The only known round tower with a hexagonal base is at Kinneigh in County Cork, built in 1014. The round tower at Ardmore, County Waterford, believed to be the latest built in Ireland, has the unique feature of three string courses around the exterior.

Purpose

It is likely that the primary reason for the round tower was—as the name cloigtheach indicates—to act as a belfry. The Irish word for round tower, cloigtheach, literally meaning bellhouse indicates this, as noted by George Petrie in 1845. The Irish language has greatly evolved over the last millennium. Dinneen notes the alternate pronunciations, cluiceach and cuilceach for cloigtheach. The closely pronounced cloichtheach means stone-house or stone-building. The round tower seems to be the only significant stone building in Ireland before the advent of the Normans in 1169–1171 CE.
University College Dublin Professor of Archaeology Tadhg O'Keeffe has suggested that the towers were originally high-status royal chapels, citing how two of them were scenes of regicide. He also suggested that the windows were arranged clockwise to imitate the order of relic-carrying procession from the elevated door to the very top.
Another possible purpose would be for taking shelter during raids. The mostly enclosed top floors and stone rooftops would make for terrible belltowers. The elevated doorway could have had a ladder that would be drawn up during raids, and the thick stone walls could withstand most attacks. Since the doors always face where a church stood, this also adds weight to the theory they were where monks would evacuate to. The oldest reference to a round tower records its use as a refuge – however in this case it was burnt by the Vikings, killing everyone inside.

List of Irish round towers

The following is a list of surviving Irish round towers, excluding modern reconstructions.
PictureLocationCountyProvinceConditionHeightNotes
AghadoeKerryMunsterIncomplete
AghagowerMayoConnachtIncompleteSecond doorway inserted later at ground level
AntrimAntrimUlsterCompleteBuilt around 10th century.Its main entrance is above the ground, suggesting that it was used as protection. The site of the monastery was burned down in 1147. It is locally known as The Steeple.
AghavillerKilkennyLeinsterIncompleteSecond doorway inserted later at ground level
ArdmoreWaterfordMunsterCompleteHas three string courses and a noticeable lean
ArdpatrickLimerickMunsterIncomplete Barrow states that the Down Survey of 1655 marks the site with a tower of 3 stories with a broken top. Fitzgerald and McGreggor writing in 1826 state that it was a fine tower that "fell a few years since".
A stump surrounded by rubble from its collapse is all that remains. Barrow speculates that some of the stones from the tower were used to build the nearby wall surrounding the cemetery, including one long with a raised moulding at the top of the entrance that may have been the sill stone from the tower's doorway.
ArdrahanGalwayConnachtIncomplete
ArmoyAntrimUlsterIncomplete
BallaMayoConnachtIncompleteSecond doorway inserted probably later at ground level
CastledermotKildareLeinsterComplete to corniceThe conical cap has been replaced with battlements and the tower has been attached to a church.
ClondalkinDublinLeinsterCompleteStrengthened by a stone buttress, has a stone staircase to the doorway. It is the narrowest known tower with a base diameter of
ClonesMonaghanUlsterComplete to cornice
Clonmacnoise
O'Rourke's Tower
McCarthy's Tower		OffalyLeinsterIncomplete
Complete
Two towers a short distance from each other
O'Rourke: full height but capless; has 8 windows at top
McCarthy: attached to a church
Cloyne Round Tower
Cloyne		CorkMunsterComplete to corniceThe conical cap has been replaced with battlements.
DerryLondonderryUlsterIncompleteBarrow states that a tower known as "The Long Tower" once stood in the city of Derry at the site occupied since 1784–1786 by St Columba's Church, Long Tower The Long Tower was said to have survived the siege of 1689 but seemed to have disappeared. In 2018, the remains of the missing tower were identified in the grounds of Lumen Christi College, as a ruin previously believed to have been a windmill.
The OS of County Londonderry of 1837 Has the following:
"In the charter of Derry it is called Columb kille's Tower in Raven's plan of the city in 1621 it appears as a very high and slender belfry....In the popular traditions of Derry and its vicinity this tower is still invariably spoken of as a lofty round tower built by St Columb himself and many legends are current of its miracle working silver bell"
Devenish IFermanaghUlsterCompleteClimbable. Romanesque corbel heads below cap
Devenish IIFermanaghUlsterIncompleteFoundation of tower directly adjacent to Devenish I
DonaghmoreMeathLeinsterComplete to corniceFull height but without cap
DromiskinLouthLeinsterIncompleteA conical cap was added to what remains of the tower.
DrumboDownUlsterIncomplete
Drumcliffe ClareMunsterIncomplete
Drumcliff SligoConnachtIncomplete
DrumlaneCavanUlsterIncompleteTwo indistinct carvings of birds can be identified up on the north side of the tower.
FaughartLouthLeinsterIncompleteOnly a single circular course of large stones remain.
GlendaloughWicklowLeinsterCompleteNearby Saint Kevin's Church includes a miniature round tower
GrangefertaghKilkennyLeinsterComplete to corniceFull height but without cap, located in the parish of Johnstown
Inish Cealtra ClareMunsterIncomplete
InishkeenMonaghanUlsterIncompleteThe top has been sealed with brick and cement.
KellsMeathLeinsterComplete to corniceFull height but without cap
KilbennanGalwayConnachtIncomplete
KilcoonaGalwayConnachtIncomplete
KildareKildareLeinsterComplete to corniceClimbable; the conical cap has been replaced with battlements; Romanesque decoration around doorway
KilkennyKilkennyLeinsterComplete to corniceClimbable; the conical cap has been replaced with battlements.
KillalaMayoConnachtCompleteThere is a noticeable bulge about halfway up the tower.
KillasheeKildareLeinsterIncompleteHas a square base, only becoming round about halfway up. Incorporated into the fabric of a church.
Killeany/Aran IslandsGalwayConnachtIncomplete
KilmallockLimerickMunsterIncompleteOnly the lower of the tower is original, what stands above is a late medieval addition/reconstruction.
KillinaboyClareMunsterIncomplete
KilmacduaghGalwayConnachtCompleteThe tallest standing of the ancient round towers. It has 11 windows and the door is from the ground. Leans from the vertical.
KilreeKilkennyLeinsterComplete to corniceThe conical cap has been replaced with battlements.
KinneighCorkMunsterComplete to corniceHas a hexagonal base and a sealed top
LiathmoreTipperaryMunsterIncompleteDiscovered in 1969; only the foundations remain
LuskDublinLeinsterComplete to corniceFull height but without cap; is attached to a later-built church
MagheraDownUlsterIncompleteStump with a large hole in the side
MeelickMayoConnachtIncomplete
Mollaneen ClareMunsterIncomplete
NendrumDownUlsterIncomplete
Dísert Óengusa, CroomLimerickMunsterIncompleteRomanesque decoration around doorway
MonasterboiceLouthLeinsterIncomplete
Old KilcullenKildareLeinsterIncomplete
OranRoscommonConnachtIncompleteLargest base diameter of any known original Irish round tower at
Oughter ArdKildareLeinsterIncomplete
Ram's IslandAntrimUlsterIncomplete
RathmichaelDublinLeinsterincompleteSaid to have been used to place bodies after being buried in the graveyard for a number of years.
RattooKerryMunsterComplete27.4 mIncludes a Sheela na Gig
RoscamGalwayConnachtIncomplete7 levels of putlog holes clearly visible
RoscreaTipperaryMunsterIncomplete
Scattery IslandClareMunsterComplete to cornice, with a partially truncated capDoorway is at ground level
Seir KieranOffalyLeinsterIncomplete
St Mullin'sCarlowLeinsterIncomplete
St Patrick's Rock TipperaryMunsterCompleteAttached to a later-built church
Steeple AntrimUlsterComplete
SwordsDublinLeinsterCompleteHas a deformed top floor, which is topped by a stone cross
TaghadoeKildareLeinsterIncomplete
TimahoeLaoisLeinsterCompleteRomanesque decoration around doorway
Tory IslandDonegalUlsterIncomplete
TullaherinKilkennyLeinsterIncomplete
Turlough AbbeyMayoConnachtComplete

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