Round tower

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument in state ownership No. 134. Situated NW of the cathedral on slightly higher ground within the main graveyard. Built of mica-schist and granite (H 30.48m) on two offsets, with a further six floors carried on beams set into beam-holes. The round-headed granite doorway faces SE and is 3.2m above the upper offset. There are four trabeate windows at various levels and a further four at the cardinal points, just below the reconstructed conical cap. A rectangular channel (c. 0.2m x 0.15m) runs right through the thickness of the wall just below the doorway. Orpen (1907, 404) suggested it may have been used as a spy-hole. Healy (1972) recorded a number of cross-slabs in the vicinity of the round tower. (Leask 1950, 16-18; Barrow 1979, 197-200; Barrow 1992, 30-31)

See attached screenshots of 3D model of the Round Tower created by The Discovery Programme. 3D model can be accessed at the following website: https://skfb.ly/6o69n

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 19 December 2012

See linked document with plan taken from Robert Cochrane Historical and Descriptive Notes with Ground Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Ecclesiastical Remains at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Extract from the Eightieth Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland 1911-12. Dublin, 1925.

References

Lennox Barrow, G. 1992 (Reprint of 1972 edition) Glendalough and St Kevin. Dundalgan Press, Dundalk.

Lennox Barrow, G. 1979 The round towers of Ireland: a study and gazetteer. Dublin. The Academy Press.

Leask, H.G. 1950 Glendalough, Co. Wicklow: national monuments vested in the Commissioners of Public Works. Dublin. Stationery Office.

Healy, P. 1972 Supplementary survey of ancient monuments at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Unpublished OPW report.

Orpen, G.H. 1907b The round tower at Glendalough - an unnoticed feature. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 37, 404.