Balla Round Tower

In Balla village, located in the SW quadrant of a graveyard (MA090-024005-).

This round tower is a National Monument (no. 403). It no longer stands to its full height and is unroofed. It consists of a circular tower (diam. c. 5m; current H c. 9-10m) constructed of regularly coursed sandstone block, cut to the curve. The basal courses incorporate larger blocks. Two blocks in these lower courses, one at NE and one at W, have shallow circular depressions in them, reminiscent of bullaun stones. The tower rests on a low narrow stone plinth or offset (W 0.15-0.3m; H 0.1-0.2m). At NW−N in the vicinity of the entrance, the offset appears to have a slight step cut into it. The stonework, in general, is regular, with a smooth surface finish, but the uppermost courses, from about second floor level, are noticeably larger and more finely cut, and suggest a phase of rebuilding.

The tower is unusual in having two doorways, at two different levels. The original doorway, a large, lintelled rectangular opening is at second floor level at E. Its position is unusually high; most round tower doorways open onto the first floor. The second, lower, doorway (H c. 1.80m; Wth 0.85m; D 1.15m) is at N. It is set unusually low for a round tower, being only 0.7m above the offset, and it opens onto a raised ground floor level. This doorway is a later insertion, dating to the 15th or 16th century (Rynne 1998, 178). It is round-headed, and has a surround of cut sandstone, chamfered at the outer edge. The inner part of the doorway is roofed with a flat lintel, which is a reused cross-slab (MA090-024008-). There is a small recess cut into the stone at the spring of the arch on both sides of the doorway, so called ‘rynne-holes’, for use with centering (Rynne 1998, 177-178). This doorway is closed by an iron gate of the modern era.

In the interior of the tower an offset can be seen at first floor level, and an offset combined with corbels at second floor level, which would have carried timbers floors.

A window at the SSW lit the first floor level. This unusual, small inwardly splayed ope forms an inverted U-shape, created by the deliberate shaping of the framing stones.

The monastery at Balla was founded by St. Crónán or Mo-Chúa, who died in 637AD. The round tower was most likely built in the 12th century; the late doorway and the change in masonry at second floor level suggest that it may have been damaged and partly rebuilt at a later period. In the 19th century a bell was installed and the tower served as a belfry for an adjacent 19th-century Catholic church (OS Letters 1838). That church, shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map, has been removed, and a community centre stands on the site. The bell was removed from the tower in the early 20th century.