1864.] 



The Pillar Towers of the British Islands. 



559 



To this class belong the Pillar Towers of Agharullee Kilkenny ; 

 Kibrie, St. Carrice, Kilkenny ; Cashel and Roscrea, Tipperary • Castle- 

 dormor, Kilcallen, Kildare ; Fertagh and Kelles, Meath ; Swords, 

 Dublin; Furlough, Killala and Meeleck, Mayo; Kilmallock, Limerick; 

 Monasterboice, Louth ; Kattoo, Clare ; Seven churches, King's county ; 

 Keneith, Cork, and Seven churches, Wicklow. 



The Pillar Towers being no longer strictly religious edifices, their 

 original form was modified to suit the fancy of the architect and the 

 prevailing style of the period. The graceful Pillar Tower of Ardmore, is 

 built in square-coursed work of reddish sandstone. The courses vary in 



thickness from 6 to 10 inches, and the 

 inner face of the building is ordinary 

 rubble-work walling. Its external 

 circumference diminishes considerably 

 with the height, and it has three sets- 

 off externally, with weathered string 

 courses, with sets- off internally. The 

 door is 13 feet from the ground and 

 semicircular at top, and diminishes 

 in height and width internally ; and 

 the jambs widen below, with a three- 

 inch torus round them, at their outer angle. 



The Keneith Tower is built of the slate-stone of the locality ; and 

 is very peculiar in its external form, having a hexagonal base ; 

 each side of which is 10 feet 4 in. in width, and 20 feet in height. 

 Including the round part, the tower is 50 feet 4 inches in height, and 

 it appears to have been left unfinished ; or else a portion of the original 

 top has been destroyed. The Tower is built upon a levelled rock, 

 cropping abruptly from the ground. The door faces the west, and 

 is fourteen feet from the ground. The whole has undergone recent 

 repair, and has been provided with iron stairs to the door, and to each 

 of the four stories, which rest upon ledges left in the thickness of the 

 wall ; each compartment is 11 feet and 9 inches in height. The diameter 

 of the Tower contracts as the wall rises ; and the breadth of each ledge, 

 four inches, increases the splaying of the wall. There is a small bell in 

 the upper stage, supported by cross beams, but it appears to be unused. 

 The walling of the foundation consists of large rough stones, and the 



Keneith. 



Ardmore. 



