towers historical ireland

Three storey Helen's Tower built in about 1858, prominent on a hilltop at the far end, was erected in honour of Helen, Lady Dufferin, grand daughter of Sheridan and composer of the popular ballad The Irish Emigrant. In 1915 and 1916, the 36th Division was camped at Clandeboye and drilled in sight of this romantic tower. A das replica, called the Ulster Memorial Tower, was later erected on the Somme battlefield at Thiepval where nearly 6, 000 Ulstermen were killed or injured in July 1916. Helen's...

A 40 foot mote, originally topped by a wooden tower and dating to the early 13th century. It is said Cromwell positioned cannon on it during the ill fated siege of Callan in 1649....

Thoor Ballylee Castle is a four storey tower dating back to the 16th century, beautifully situated beside a stream. There was much to enchant William Butler Yeats on his first visit to Ballylee in 1885: the old square castle, the little river and the legend of a most beautiful local woman 'Mary Hynes, the Shining Flower of Ballylee.
He eventually bought the medieval tower, which was built by the Norman de Burgo family, with a cottage and garden for the grand sum of IR35.00 in 1916. The...

A three storey 16th century granite tower with a vault over the second. It has parapet machicolations.
Together with the reconstructed Dalkey Tower Hall, further along on the opposite side of the street, it is the last of the seven castellated buildings which once stood in the old walled town of Dalkey....

On a hill, 3 miles across the valley, and twice as tall as Helen's Tower, Scrabo Tower was built at about the same time in memory of the third Marquis of Londonderry. It has 122 steps up to a good view of Strangford Lough and beyond (open in summer). Part of it was lived in until about 1970. There is a golf course round the tower, with bluebell woods on the south side....

The ruins of Kilmacduagh Monastic Settlement lie close to the border of counties Galway and Clare, on the eastern fringes of the Burren. because it is somewhat off the beaten track, it tends to be rather unjustly overlooked as one of the most interesting examples of early monastic architecture in the west of Ireland.

The monastery's most notable feature is the 11th/12th century Round Tower measuring 111ft to the tip of its cap. The tower is unusual in that it tilts, like its more famou...

Scattery Churches and Round Tower The island of Scattery is just off the small port of Kilrush. The monastery on the island was founded in the 6th century by St. Senan, who like, St. Kevin of Glendalough, had a notorious dislike of women! One of his pupils was St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois. It was attacked and looted by the Vikings in 816 and 835 and it is thought the Vikings occupied the monastery from 972 to 975, but were captured by Brian Boru. The most distinguishing characteristic o...

The Tower Museum tells the story of Derry, chronicling the history of the city from its geological formation through to the present day. There are special features on Celtic Monasticism, the Plantation and the Siege of Derry....

The foundation of the first monastery is attributed to St. Cronan, otherwise called Mo-Chua, who lived possibly in the 6th century. The monastery is first mentioned in 776.
It was plundered by the Vikings in 832. In 1076 the southern half of Ireland demanded the expulsion of O'Ronain from the abbacy as it was claimed that he held it against the rightful abbot.

This probably means that the monastery had fallen into lay hands by that time. The most important remnant of the monaste...

The modern road cuts through a monastery founded by St Cronan who died between 600 and 620....