134 



are the first and most wonderful species of this ancient masonry ; so 

 ancient, that hke the pyramids of Egypt they baffle the attempts of 

 the learned to explore their era; so durable, that, while they have for 

 centuries resisted the impressions of time, they seem only destined to 

 perish in the ruin of the world. They are round* pillars of lime and 

 hewn stone, constructed of the best materials, and with a masonry 

 that shews a thorough acquaintance with quarrying and chisel work. 

 Their walls are generally about three feet thick, and of a conical 

 form, varying in height from fifty to one hundred and thirty-two feet; 

 (the tower at Kildare is calculated to be four feet loftier than Trajan's 

 at Rome,) their outer diameter at the bottom is generally about forty- 

 two feet, whence they gradually diminish to the top, where the dia- 

 meter is generally about eighteen feet ; this top in its perfect state 

 terminates in a stone cap roof; the battlements which crown some 

 being evidently but later additions. Every tower was divided into 

 stories of different height, and large holes are distinctly traced inside, 

 in which the several floorings were joisted, or projecting stone-brackets 

 on which they rested. Each stage was lit with loop holes, while the 

 summit had four larger openings opposite one another, and regard- 

 ing the several cardinal points, the door of each always faces the 

 East,-j- and was raised much above the level of the ground, from eight 

 to sixteen feet or more; J all below the door inside is generally of 

 solid stone, but all above is hollow. Their Architecture and materials 

 differ widely from those of the churches near which they stand, and 

 while those feebler efforts of art daily crumble away in their shadow, 



* Some of the Irish pillar towers are on hexagonal bases, (like those found in India,) 

 e. g. the tower at Kinleigh. near Iniskeen, County Cork, &c. 



f Ledwich's Antiquities, p. 164. 



X The round tower at Downpatrick seems the only exception to this part of the definition ; 

 but the rubbish of the cathedral has more probably raised the ground about it. 



