ROUND TOWERS.
OPINIONS FORMERLY CURRENT WITH REGARD TO THE ORIGIN AND USES OF
THE ROUND TOWERS--THEIR CHARACTERISTICS--DOORWAYS, WINDOWS AND
APERTURES--EXAMPLES AT CLONDALKIN, MONASTERBOICE, KILDARE,
DEVENISH.
Round towers of about 18 feet in external diameter, and varying in
height from 60 to about 110 feet, are frequently found in connection
with the earlier monastic establishments of Ireland. The question of
their origin and uses long occupied much antiquarian attention. In
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they had been regarded by
archæologists as the work of the Danes; but towards the close of the
latter century General Vallancey propounded various theories, which
assumed them to be of Phœnician or Indo-Scythian origin, and to have
contained the sacred fire from whence all the fires in the kingdom
were annually rekindled. By those who affirmed their Christian origin
they were successively declared to be anchorite towers in imitation of
that of St. Simon Stylites, and penitential prisons, and thus theories
were multiplied until they became almost as numerous as the towers
themselves. Each succeeding writer, instead of elucidating, appeared to
involve the subject in deeper mystery than ever--a mystery that was
proverbial until dispelled by George Petrie in his great work on _The
Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland_, which was received,
with good cause for the effusion, as ‘the most learned, the most exact,
and the most important ever published upon the antiquities of the
ancient Irish nation.’
That the general conclusions embodied in this work were arrived at
after a long and patient investigation, not only of the architectural
peculiarities of the numerous round towers, but also of the
ecclesiastical structures usually found in connection with them, is
sufficiently shown by the many references to, and illustrations of,
examples scattered over the whole country. But Petrie also, with the
assistance of the best Celtic scholars in Ireland, sought in the
‘Annals’ and other Irish MSS. for references to such buildings as
it was the custom of the early inhabitants to erect; and from these
hitherto-neglected sources of information, much light was thrown upon
the subject of ancient Irish ecclesiastical architecture. The following
is a summary of Petrie’s conclusions:--
1. That the Irish ecclesiastics had, from a very early period, in
connection with their cathedral and abbey churches, campaniles or
detached belfries, called in the Irish ‘Annals’ and other ancient
authorities by the term _Cloictheach_, ‘House of a bell.’
2. That no other building, either round or square, suited to the
purpose of a belfry, has ever been found in connection with any church
of an age anterior to the twelfth century, with the single exception of
the square belfry attached to a church on Inis Clothrann or Clorin, an
island in Lough Ree, which seems to be of earlier date.
3. That they were designed to answer at least a twofold purpose--to
serve as belfries, and as keeps or places of strength, in which the
sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and
into which the ecclesiastics to whom they belonged could retire for
security in cases of sudden attack.
4. An examination of ancient Irish literature tends strongly to the
conclusion that the people so generally recognised this use of the
round towers as a primary one, that they very rarely applied to a tower
erected for defence any other term but that of ‘cloictheach’ or belfry.
5. That they were probably also used, when occasion required, as
beacons and watch-towers.
Petrie, while establishing their ecclesiastical character and origin,
gave, however, too wide a margin to the date of their erection, viz.,
from the sixth century to the thirteenth. The investigations of the
late Lord Dunraven in tracing such structures on the Continent narrowed
their first erection down to the ninth century. He shows that they were
founded on European examples, the most notable being those of Ravenna,
where six of its round towers still stand. The round towers were due
to Byzantine influences, and some writers trace their original source
to the towers built in connection with early Syrian churches. Miss
Stokes, following Lord Dunraven, assigns the Irish round towers to
three periods between 890 and 1238 A.D., and classifies them into four
distinct groups, according to their style of masonry and doorways.
[Illustration: Doorway, Round Tower, Glendalough.]
The Norse sea-rovers rendered ecclesiastical establishments most
unsafe. The first period of their invasions extended from the end of
the eighth century to the middle of the ninth century, and the land
was ravaged from north to south with fire and sword. On the sea-coast
and along the river valleys the country lay waste. On the banks of the
Bann, the shores of Lough Neagh, by the Boyne, and broad expansions
of the Shannon, and as far south as the distant Skellig Rock, few
sacred establishments escaped plunder and desecration. To protect their
churches, oratories, and sacred treasures, these towers were built by
the monks, from which watch could be kept, and an easy retreat made to
them as places of safety; their lines can still be traced along the
shores of the waters where the fleets of the Danes are known to have
appeared.
The usual features of the round towers may be thus summarised:
* * * * *
[Illustration: Cross over the Doorway of Antrim Tower.]
[Illustration: Doorway, Donaghmore Tower, Co. Meath.]
_Doorways._--In form these are similar to the doorways we have
described as characteristic of the early churches, but they are
generally more highly ornamented, and appear to have been furnished
with double doors. They are placed almost invariably at a considerable
elevation above the ground. A flat projecting band, with a small
bead-moulding at the angles, is the most usual decoration; but in some
instances a human head, sculptured in bold relief, is found upon each
side of the arch. A stone immediately above the doorway of Antrim tower
exhibits a cross sculptured in _alto-relievo_; and at Donaghmore, in
Co. Meath, a figure of the Crucifixion, in bold relief, occupies a
similar position. This style of decoration may have been much more
common than is generally supposed, as, of the number of towers
remaining in Ireland, the doorways of at least one-third have been
destroyed. Concentric arches, with chevron and other mouldings, occur
at Timahoe and at Kildare.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Window, Round Tower, Cashel.]
_Windows and Apertures._--Generally speaking, these are similar in form
to the windows in contemporary churches--with this difference, that
they never splay, and that the arch-head in numerous examples differs
in interior form from that of the exterior. The windows in the earliest
towers are square-headed or triangular, and in the latest they are well
formed, and of cut stone. The tower was divided into storeys, about
12 feet in height, the floors of which were supported by projections
of the masonry or by brackets. Each storey, except the highest, was
generally lighted by one small window; the highest has generally four
of large size. A conical roof of stone completed the building. The
tower usually rested on a low circular plinth; the walls varied in
thickness, from 3 to 5 feet; the lowest storey had no aperture, and
sometimes its space was filled by solid masonry. The earliest towers
were built of rubble masonry; and the spaces between the stones were
filled with spawls; little mortar was used in laying the courses, but
grouting abundantly. In the latest towers fine ashlar masonry was
used, like the Norman work of the twelfth century; a few have external
string courses, as in the perfect tower at Ardmore, County Waterford.
About seventy round towers still remain, thirteen of which are perfect,
of which ten retain the original conical cap.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Clondalkin Round Tower.]
_Clondalkin._--In the village of Clondalkin, at a distance of about
six miles from Dublin by road, stands one of the best preserved of
the round towers. Its height to the top of the cone is 90 feet. The
doorway, which is approached by a flight of stone steps, comparatively
modern, is square-headed, with inclined sides, and perfectly plain, as
are also the windows and top apertures. Some years ago a gentleman of
the neighbourhood caused this tower to be repaired, upon which occasion
floors were added, and placed in their original position. Access may
be had from storey to storey by the aid of fixed ladders, so that a
visitor has here an opportunity for observation not frequently to be
met with. It should be remarked that the projection at the base, about
13 feet high, and which is nearly all solid masonry, is not found in
any other round tower in Ireland, and it may possibly be an afterwork.
The tower of Clondalkin, though nearly perfect, cannot be considered
a very fine example of its class. It is built of rubble masonry, is
somewhat low, and its roof, which does not appear to be original, is
wanting in that degree of lightness and elegance observable in many.
The other towers in the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin are at
Swords, Lusk, and Rathmichael. That of Swords has been disfigured
by the restoration of the top, and the ivy which threatened its
destruction has been removed. That of Lusk has been incorporated into
the west end of the parish church, and the tower at Rathmichael is a
mere stump.
[Illustration: Doorway of Clondalkin Tower.]
* * * * *
_Monasterboice._--There is a fine example at Monasterboice, within
about six miles of Drogheda. The churches, the tower, and the
magnificent crosses of this ancient foundation form a group of
ecclesiastical antiquities in some respects unsurpassed in Ireland.
A description of the crosses will be found in the previous chapter.
The tower, the erection of which there is every reason to refer to an
early period, is one of particular interest, exhibiting, as it does,
a decorated doorway, the head of which is cut out of two stones laid
horizontally one above the other. A band extends round the head and
down the sides of the doorway, but terminates on a level with the
sill, or rather turns off at a right angle, passing horizontally for
a distance of eight inches, from which point it ascends, and running
upwards round the doorway head, gives the appearance of a double band.
A space between the bands, upon each side of the upper part of the
doorway, and one upon the semicircular arched head, left uncut, appear
suggestive of the cross. The window immediately over the doorway may
be looked upon as a characteristic example of the opening found in a
similar position in most of the towers, and which is supposed to have
answered the purpose of a second doorway, or to have been designed
for the purpose of affording persons within the tower some means
of defending the entrance beneath. In this example, however, it is
unusually small. The other windows are square-headed, as were also the
large apertures of the uppermost storey.[127] The masonry is good, and
characteristic of an early period; the stones are large, well fitted
together, and pass through a considerable thickness of the wall, as
was observed in the injured upper portion of the structure. The tower
has been well repaired by the Board of Works, and flights of steps
laid from floor to floor, by which the summit of the top storey can be
reached.
A church of very primitive construction, and probably several centuries
older than the tower, stands in the cemetery, at a little distance
to the north-east of the other remains. Its only doorway is placed,
as usual, in the centre of the west gable. It is square-headed, and
possesses every indication of great antiquity; but the accumulation of
the churchyard soil has buried the lower portion at least to a depth of
several feet. The church consisted of a nave and chancel; the latter
has been destroyed, but a plain semicircular chancel arch remains. The
church immediately adjoining the round tower is obviously an erection
of the early part of the thirteenth century.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Doorway of Kildare Tower.]
_Kildare._--The round tower of Kildare is in several respects one of
the most remarkable in Ireland. Its doorway, of which an illustration
is annexed, is unusually rich, of Irish-Romanesque work, consisting
of three concentric arches, upon two of which a variety of mouldings
appears. The external arch is quite plain, and evidently not as ancient
as the others. An ornamental canopy, a portion of which still remains,
once surmounted the doorway. A still more remarkable and finer doorway
is that of Timahoe. The tower of Kildare is 105½ feet high, and 55 feet
in circumference; it bears evidence of having been repaired at various
periods. Like the round tower of Cloyne, in the County of Cork, and
like those of Kilkenny and Kilmallock, it is finished with a plain
battlemented parapet, comparatively modern, and added, probably, at
some period when the original roof of stone had been destroyed, perhaps
by lightning.
[Illustration: Round Tower, Devenish.]
* * * * *
_Devenish._--This tower, with other remains of antiquity, some of which
are associated with the name of St. Molaise (see p. 288), stands on
the Island of Devenish in Lower Lough Erne, a couple of miles from
Enniskillen. The tower is 84 feet 10 inches high, and is remarkable for
its symmetry, and the perfection and regularity of its masonry to the
very apex. It has a round-headed doorway 9 feet from the ground; at
this part it is 8 feet in diameter, and the walls are 4 feet thick. It
has five storeys. Above the doorway is a triangular-headed window, and
the top storey has four windows nearly facing the cardinal points. It
has the unique distinction of possessing the only external decoration
not connected with apertures. This is a cornice or band of Romanesque
work, of good design, immediately beneath the conical cap. On the
band, and over the apertures, are quaintly-executed heads, the beards
consisting of interlaced patterns. The tower was thoroughly restored in
1835.