In the centre of Roscrea, on Church Street, there's this magnificent roofless round tower.
It's part of a monastery founded around 600 by St. Cronan. The round tower and the nearby Church are from the 12th century.
The tower is 19.15 metres tall, though it is thought that it was about 7 metres higher, but it was lowered in 1798 by the garrison of the Roscrea Castle. It has a diameter of about 4.40 metres.
The round-headed doorway is at 2.69 metres from the ground facing south-southeast (165°). There are two windows, the lowest one faces east (90°) at 7.85 metres from the ground, it is angle-headed and it has some nice and unique carvings on the inner face of the north jamb, among them a single mast ship. It's difficult to spot it but with some luck and the perfect light it is possible to see it.
The nearby massive building is an old mill recently restored to turn it into a museum. What is really ugly is the modern Tesco supermarket north of the tower, in sharp contrast with the other surrounding buildings.
|