Round Towers of Freland. 341 
dently, of a date much anterior to that of the 
adjoining church,—which has led many to 
suppose, that they were built forsome purpose 
unconnected with religious uses, and that the 
churches were afterwards placed near, for 
the convenience of using them as Belfries. 
But thissupposition, though plausible, is not 
borne out by facts; for where the churches 
are of adate subsequent to that of the Tower, 
they generally display such a perfection of 
architecture, as to convince us, that men who 
could erect such buildings need not have had 
recourse to the Round Towers for hanging 
their bells. Neither would the Round Towers 
have suited their purpose, as they are adapted 
for the suspension of only asingle bell, and, 
in almost all those churches which are of a 
date subsequent to that of the neighbouring 
Round Tower, we find the same accommoda- 
tion for the suspension of a number of bells, 
as in our own churches in England. It is 
however possible that in some cases, where 
the new church has been small, and those 
who built it poor, they may have been con- 
tented with a single bell, and so saved the 
expence of a new square tower by using the 
old Round one. 
There is however one particular kind of 
building near which the Round Towers are 
