Kildare Round Tower

In the NW sector of a graveyard (KD022-029003-), c. 30m NW of St. Brigid's Cathedral (KD022-029020-). According to Bradley et al. (1986 Vol 3, 222), the base and lower courses of the tower are built of evenly coursed granite blocks, with roughly coursed limestone blocks above (H. 32.6m; diam. 5.3m). There are seven floors; five supported on corbels, with the third and sixth on offsets. The red sandstone Romanesque doorway faces SE (H. above ground level 4.6m), and is of four orders (the outermost order is modern) with a gable above. The ornament includes chevrons, rosettes and foliation. There are narrow pointed splayed windows on the second, third, fourth and fifth floors, and five windows, each partially blocked at the base, on the top floor. Battlements were added in the 18th century. (Fitzgerald 1891-5, 76, 86-91; De Paor 1967, 137; Barrow 1979, 118-122)