We stayed or drove through Swords many times but we never visited the round tower properly.
It can be seen from almost everywhere in the town but it suddenly disappears when you get close to it. It stands in the churchyard of the church on the hill to the south of the town.
It's about 25 metres tall and has a diametre of about 5 metres. It has an entrance on the east side at the ground level and this is quite unusual for a round tower, because usually the doorways were at an elevated level, for protection and defense. There's also a small window a few metres above the doorway and other windows can be seen higher along the tower on each of the cardinal points, one window each floor. There are four windows at the top, right below the cap, and on the cap there's a small stone cross.
The doorway at the ground level is locked by a modern metal gate, but it's possible to see that the ground floor is completely covered by a huge amount of bird droppings, feathers and other materials.
The tower is very tall, but it's in a small area and there isn't enough room around to take photos easily.
This was our last visit for the year 2007.
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