Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 395 



It will be perceived that the Tower of Clondalkin has a singular projecting 

 base, which is nearly thirteen feet in height, and composed, in great part, of 

 solid masonry. I have already shown, however, at page 365, from an ancient 

 seal, that the Tower of Roscarbery, in the County of Cork, which does not 

 now remain, had a similar base, and that, in this respect, both these Towers 

 resembled the ancient round castle of Brunless, in Brecknockshire. Above the 

 base the Tower of Clondalkin measures forty-five feet in circumference, and, 

 with the exception of the chiselled stones round its doorway, it is altogether 

 constrvicted of common rubble masonry, of the calp limestone of the district. 

 The apertures are all quadrangular, the jambs of the doorway inclining, as in 

 those of the oldest churches. 



The church of Cluain Dolcain, according to Colgan, Acta Sanctorum, page 

 677 (correctly 573), owes its origin to St. Mochua, who was its first abbot, and 

 flourished early in the seventh century. It subsequently rose to the rank of a 

 bishop's see, and became a place of great celebrity. Of its original ecclesiastical 

 edifices the Tower alone remains. There are, indeed, in its immediate vicinity, 

 some ruins of a church, which has obviously been of some architectural impor- 

 tance ; but it appears certain, from drawings made in 1780, when it was more 

 perfect than it is at present, that it was a structure of the thirteenth century. 

 A large cross of granite, without ornament, a usual accompaniment of our 

 earliest ecclesiastical establishments, is still to be seen in the churchyard. 



The Tower of llattoo, which, like that of Clondalkin, is still perfect, is 

 remarkable for being placed on a terrace or platform connected with a cause- 

 way, which extends in a line opposite its doorway, as shown in the ground-plan 

 on next page. The Tower is formed of roughly-squared, hammered sandstone, 

 the entrance doorway alone being chiselled. It measures forty-seven feet nine 

 inches in circumference at its base, and ninety-two feet in height, the wall being 

 three feet ten inches in thickness at the doorway. The doorway is semi- 

 circular-headed, the arch being formed of three stones, and it is ornamented 

 with a flat band, nine inches in breadth. It is five feet four inches in height, 

 one foot eight inches in width below the arch, and two feet one inch at the 

 sill. The Tower is divided into six stories, that at the top containing, as usual, 

 four large apertures facing the cardinal points. These apertures have sloping 

 jambs, and are, externally, angular-headed, but are quadrangular internally. 



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