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Round tower

Killeshin round tower

Round tower at Killeshin monastic site, demolished in 1703.

  • AccessNot confirmed
  • National MonumentNot recorded
  • DateNot stated
  • FolkloreNone recorded
  • PhotoWanted
Killeshin, Co. Laois52.84720, -7.00162
Directions Map

Unofficial guide. Not the National Monuments Service, the OPW, Fáilte Ireland or the landowner. Disclaimer

At a glance

  • TypeRound tower
  • Condition (as surveyed)Gone: no visible trace

What to look for

  • Church beside

Picked out from the Archaeological Survey description below.

Can you visit?

  • No source says it is open to the public.Most monuments in Ireland stand on private farmland.
  • Ask the landowner before crossing fields, close gates, leave the stones as you find them.Visiting responsibly
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History and description

A round tower to SW of church (LA032-020002-) (Crawford and Leask 1925, 84) was destroyed in 1703 (Fitzgerald 1910, 189, 198).

Full archaeological record 221 words

A round tower to SW of church (LA032-020002-) (Crawford and Leask 1925, 84) was destroyed in 1703 (Fitzgerald 1910, 189, 198). Fitzgerald (1910, 189) recorded that on 'Monday ye 8th Day of March 1702/3, that day the Steeple of Killeshan undermined and flung down by one Bambrick, imployed by Captain Wolseley, in Three Days Works. 1702/3, 8th March at 3 of the clocke in ye afternoon ye Steeple fell to ye ground, being measured it was 105 feet [32m] high, or in length'. A second reference to the round tower dating from 1709 recorded that 'near the foot of the Mountain stands the old church of Killeshen, of which is a very old building. Here lately stood over again the Doore of the Church, one of the old round steeples which, I am told was very high old and well built, so that when the owner of the place had it fallen, it came to the ground in one solid piece, and was not even by the fall against the ground so broke, but that several pieces yet remain sticking together, so that you can easily discover what this building was. It plainly appears to be of the same building & age with the adjacent Church (LA032-020002-)'. No visible surface remains of any round tower in NW quadrant of graveyard (LA032-020004-).

References

  • Date of revised upload: 26 March 2015

Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service (CC BY 4.0) · Compiled by Caimin O'Brien · Based on the Archaeological Inventory of County Laois. It describes the site as it was when surveyed.

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