Irish Round Towers

Round Towers are among the most interesting archaeological monuments in Ireland. They have now joined the shamrock and harp as unique Irish emblems.

The Vikings, or Norsemen, first attacked Ireland towards the end of the eighth century. On arrival, they started to plunder and loot places of wealth, especially monasteries. From the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, round towers were erected in Irish monastic enclosures, generally to the west of churches. The Irish word for a round tower is cloigtheach, meaning bell house, which is now generally accepted as indicating its primary purpose. Round towers were constructed primarily as belfries to call monks in from the fields for prayer at regular intervals, as well as serving as watchtowers, places of temporary refuge and for the security of relics, manuscripts and other valuables. As a unique Irish architectural monument, a round tower was erected in 1998 at Messines in Belgium to remember the Irish soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War (about 49,400).

Round Towers are tall circular stone buildings, varying in height from 20 to 35 metres, which gradually taper to their conical roofs. There were from five to seven floor landings, connected by ladders, and lit by small slender windows. The floor on the highest level had the bell and generally four larger windows, from where the bell was rung. The circumference at the base averages around fifteen metres, with the diameter at the bottom only five to six metres. The entrance door into each is about two to three metres above the ground, and the access ladder could be easily pulled up if required for security reasons. There are about seventy surviving round towers in Ireland in whole or in part, the best known include Ardmore (County Waterford), Cashel (Tipperary), Clondalkin (Dublin), Clonmacnoise (Offaly), and Glendalough (Wicklow). The tallest one surviving in the country is Kilmacduagh in County Galway at 34m (112 feet), a round tower with a distinctive lean of about 50cm. (20in) like the Leaning Tower Pisa in Italy. There are five surviving round towers in County Mayo, Aughagower (16m), Balla (10m), Killala (25.6m), Meelick (20m) and Turlough (22.9m). The round tower has now joined the shramrock and the harp as unique irish emlems.

Bernard O'Hara's latest book entitled Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish is now on sale in the USA and UK as a paperback book at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk or Barnes and Noble

It is also available as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).

An earlier publication, a concise biography of Michael Davitt, entitled Davitt by Bernard O’Hara published in 2006 by Mayo County Council , is now available as Davitt: Irish Patriot and Father of the Land League by Bernard O’Hara, which was published in the USA by Tudor Gate Press (www.tudorgatepress.com) and is available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. It can be obtained as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).