Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 



409 



this work, I also add a view of the Tower itself, which is finely situated on the 

 brow of a bank on the south-east side of the Shannon, and amid scenery of a 

 solemn and desolate character, which add greatly to its poetical interest. 



This Tower is constructed of a fine sandstone, and its masonry is laid in 

 regular courses, except about twenty feet of the upper portion, which is of coarse 

 masonry of undressed limestone, and which, like the upper part of the Round 

 Tower of Tullaherin, in the county of Kilkenny, and some others, is evidently 

 the work of a later period thon the lower part. It rests, as usual, on a project- 

 ing circular plinth, and measures fifty-six feet in circumference at its base. Its 

 present height is but sixty-two feet, in addition to which, we must allow about 

 seventeen feet for the conical roof, which is now wanting : but, there is no 

 reason to doubt that it was originally one of the highest of its kind in Ireland, 

 for, as I have already remarked, it was, obviously, not restored to its original 

 altitude, when the present upper portion was re-erected. The wall is three feet 



VOL. xx. 3 G 



