Round tower

The National Monuments Service's description

Round tower situated 1.5m S of the S wall of the S transept of St Canice's Cathedral (KK019-026029-). The tower (H 30.5m; ext. diam. at base 5.08m; int. diam. at base 1.2m, walls; Wth. 1.1m) is divided into eight storeys and entered through a simple round-headed doorway at first-floor level; a hanging iron and hinge for the original timber door were in place until the 1840s (Graves and Prim 1857, 112). The windows, all lintelled, are in ascending order and the top storey, which has lost its cone, has six evenly-spaced windows just below the parapet. The present internal floors and ladders were put in place in 1847, using the original internal off-sets as supports (ibid. 109, fn.b). Following the Anglo-Norman conquest the round tower was apparently used as a look-out tower and crenellations visible in an 1836 illustration may have been constructed for this purpose (Anon 1836; Graves and Prim 1857, 54). In 1705 the chapter set aside moneys for the ‘coping, repairing and beautifying’ of the tower, work which involved the complete repointing of the structure (Graves and Prim 1857, 54).
There is a notable difference between the stonework that forms the lower third of the tower and the remainder, with dolomite being the predominant geology used in the former and limestone in the latter. However, comparison of lime mortars from the foundation level and half-way up the tower by Jason Bolton (2013, unpublished) shows such similarities in composition as to dispel suggestions that the tower was rebuilt in the past and instead it would seem to be of one building phase only (apart from the parapet level). Instead, the use of different stone in the lower courses may be related to structural concerns, perhaps as an aid to settlement.
The date at which the tower was constructed is not recorded historically but its round-headed doorway, evidence for diagonal tooling and lintelled windows are suggestive of a date no earlier than the 12th century (Manning 2003, 89). Recent radiocarbon dates from skeletons excavated under the foundations dates its construction to after AD 990 (Ó Drisceoil 2018, 118). It could be suggested that it was the formalisation of Kilkenny’s status as cathedral at the 1111 synod of Rathbressail that was the catalyst for the tower’s construction, perhaps by the then king of Ossory Domnall mac Donnchada Mac Gilla Patráic (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 84-5).
In 1846 and 1847 James Graves investigated both the internal and external base of the tower and reported that it stood on a stone plinth (D. 0.6m) (Graves and Prim 1857, 109-110, 114-120). The plinth rested on ‘a black and yielding mould, from which protruded human bones in an east and west direction’ (ibid. 110). Inside the tower Graves noted a 2.3m deep dump over a mortared floor pavement that was on the same level as the external base course of the tower. These overlying layers contained disarticulated human bones, bird guano, animal bones and dolomite debris, considered as having derived from the tower’s construction. An intermediate layer showed evidence for burning and it was suggested it may have been associated with historically attested attacks on the church in 1085 and 1114 (ibid.). Graves also reported that five articulated human burials (KK019-026171-) were encountered after the removal of the pavement. Excavations (13E0015) around the base of the tower in 2013 uncovered its offset plinth foundation (D 0.32m, off-set by 0.2m-0.25m from the external face of the tower) which had been constructed directly onto the graveyard soil. When compared with a plan of the tower by Graves and Prim its foundations can be seen to have comprised a 1.2m wide circular ring (ibid. 115). The stones were partially damaged in places and there was some subsidence visible at the N, giving it a somewhat ‘buckled’ appearance.

See attached photograph by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil of the base of the round tower with plinth foundation, taken from the W.

Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil

Date of upload: 13 November 2020

References

Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Bolton, J. 2103 Mortar analysis, St Canice's Cathedral Round Tower. Unpublished report by Bolton Consultancy for Kilkenny Archaeology.

Anon. 1836 The city of Kilkenny from the north. Dublin Penny Journal 4 (194), 301-2.

Graves, J. and Prim, J.G.A. 1857 The history, architecture and antiquities of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny. Dublin. Hodges, Smith and Company.

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2018 From Gaelic church settlements to Anglo-Norman towns: problems and possibilities. In H.B. Clarke and Sarah Gearty (ed.), More maps and texts: sources and the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, 115-34. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2013 Church Lane, St Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, 09E0457, in I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2010: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, No. 416, 134. Bray, Wordwell.