Dysert Oenghusa Round Tower

The Dysert Oenghusa Round Tower stands in the townland of Carrigeen, in County Limerick, in Ireland.

Irish Round Towers are slender stone towers which were built between the 9th and 12th century. They are generally found in the vicinity of a church or monastery.

Their purpose seems to have been to act as a belfry. However, other purposes are also suggested, like high-status royal chapels, lookout towers, status symbols, defendable places to store religious valuables, hiding places for monks in times of trouble or just markers of religious sites. The lower portion is often solid masonry with a single door raised 2 to 3 meters above, often accessible only by a ladder. Usually they originally had a stone conical roof.

A monastic site here was first mentioned in 1083. The round tower, however, dates back to the 11th/12th century. Built on bedrock, the tower is incomplete but comprises 5 stories, 3 windows, and the doorway on the first floor level, which has a finely carved sandstone-headed arch. Internally, wooden floors and ladders would have allowed access to the top of the tower.

The rectangular structure next to the round tower are the remains of a 15th/16th century church, but it lacks architectural details.

The Ardpatrick Round Tower can freely be visited. This was the first round tower where I could get inside, although there wasn't much to see. Still a nice tower, although the steel stairway does take away a bit of its charm.

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