Clonmacnoise Round Towers

O'Rourke's Round Tower

Temple Finghin church and Round Tower

The two towers to be found at Clonmacnoise are part of the stunning monastic city.
Along with the two towers this site also contains a cathedral, seven church's and three high crosses.

O'Rourke's  tower can be found in the north west corner of the graveyard.
The date the tower was finished is generally thought to be early 11th Century, but the tower is named after the builder Fergal O'Rourke who died 964AD. 
The tower was struck by lightning in 1135 and as a result is missing a lot of its original height.   
Allowing for that the tower still stands to an impressive 19 meters in height.
The doorway is over 3 meters from ground level, and faces south east.
 
Temple Finghin church and round tower are located at the edge of the graveyard closest to the Shannon.
The tower which was never free standing is dated mid to late 11th Century.
The later Romanesque Temple Finghin church provides the entrance to the tower.
The tower is 16.7 meters in height with the doorway located at ground level (with no evidence of any previous raised doorway on the tower).
The tower has a total of seven windows five of which are on the south side (visible in image). 

When I visited Clonmacnoise (2008) I was on my round tower hunt, all going well I would hope to revisit  this superb site this coming summer. 
    

Ardrahan Round Tower

All that remains of Ardrahan round tower can be seen in the above images.
It now forms part of the graveyard wall to the local C of I parish church.
The height of the tower stones is about two and a half meters.  
From inside the graveyard nothing can be seen of the tower (an headstone sits where you would mark the center).
Galway has four round towers in total, the other three are very much worth seeing.     

Killala Round Tower

Killala Round Tower is one of Co Mayo's five round towers.
Thought to have been built in the 12th Century the tower stands 52 meters high.

The original monastic foundation here probably dates back to the 5th century, when Saint Patrick appointed Muiredach as first bishop of Killala.

The tower was struck by lightning at some stage in the 19th century, the repairs have left quite a bulge on the side of the tower (above the doorway on the left).

The tower is very easy to find you will see it before you reach Killala, parking is no problem on any of the side streets.

Photographing it is another matter, the image above was taken stood upright balancing on the back of a bench with my nephew Conan holding onto my legs.

 

Knockanyconor Portal Tomb

Knockanyconor Portal Tomb can be found just off the N61 in the town of Lecarrow.
As you can see many other stones lay close by the Portal tomb.
This site is a bit of a mess but still a very striking mess.
The tombs entrance faces east.
The partially collapsed capstone which is 2.4m in length and 1.8m in width rests on two portal stones 1.4 in height.
This site is also known as Nellies big rock, the name comes from the the story of a woman in the 19th century who reared a child under the capstone.
    

Ross Errilly Friary

This Franciscan friary is known as the biggest and best preserved in Ireland.
The original site dates back to 1351 and was founded by the de Burghs, a local Norman family.
History shows that it was the mid 1750's before the monks finally left the Friary.
In the intervening years the Friary fell in and out of the monks hands for various reasons such as a plague, the English Reformation and Cromwell.
A lot of today's remaining structure was built in the 15th century.
Ross Errilly Friary is located a short drive from Headford Co Galway.
It is signed posted from the main street in Headford.
Parking is provided.
Depending on your luck you may have this fantastic sight to view all on your own or you could be sharing it with coach loads of tourists.
  

Donaghmore Church (St Farannan's church)

This 12th Century church is built on an earlier site founded by St Farannan.
The sites standout feature is the Romanesque doorway (despite missing some stones).

The church was taken into the care of the Board of Works in 1833, and around that time restoration work was carried out by Thomas Deane.

This small but striking ruin can be found just off the R689 as you travel from Fethard to Clonmel.

Athgreany Stone Circle (The Pipers Stones)

This large stone circle consists of fourteen stones, originally thought to have been seventeen.
The granite circle has a diameter of 23 meters, with the tallest stone 1.8 meters.
There are a number of other large stones close by which may have belonged to a second circle.
The circle is in a field (short walk) just off the N81 and is signposted "the pipers stones".
This is a superb circle with a wonderful atmosphere.