Kells Round Tower

This site is associated with St Columba (also called St Colmcille).
In 806 AD Irish monks from St Columcille’s monastery in Iona Scotland settled in Kells.


The tower is dated to the late 10th early 11th Century and is 26 meters in height.

The tower has a total of 9 windows with the bell storey accounting for 5 of the windows.
The other 4 windows are on what would have been the different floor levels of the tower.

The graveyard of St. Columba's Church has been built up on the side of the towers doorway, but if you take your measure from the road side of the tower it would place the doorway 3.6 meters from the base.

The graveyard also has four high crosses including the unfinished cross in the top image.
I hope to cover all the crosses in Kells in a future post, this will include the relocated Market Cross.

Access - The tower is very visible from the outskirts of the town.
Pay parking can be got right beside the tower.
The entrance to the graveyard is a short walk from the tower.

The Hill Of Slane

The impressive site of The Hill Of Slane stands 158 meters above the surrounding area.
As it is such a large site it is possible to be seen well in advance when travelling on the N2 to Slane from Dublin.

It is claimed (but disputed) that St Patrick lit a paschal fire on it's summit in 433 AD while a festival was being celebrated on the nearby Hill Of Tara.  This was in defiance of the High King Laoire whose pagan beliefs were that no other fires should be lit during pagan festivals.

What you can see today is mostly dated from the 15th Century.
It is said to have been built on a earlier site.
The 19 meter high Gothic tower (image no 2) was founded along with the Franciscan friary and the collage (image no 3) by Sir Christopher Fleming in 1512.

Access - The site is signposted on your left as you leave Slane heading towards Collon.
Parking is not a problem as their is a good size clearing (you are warned not to leave valuables visible as cars have been broken into).
From the car park you are left a short up hill walk to the site.







   

  

Tremblestown Castle

Tremblestown Castle Co Meath dates back to the 15th Century and what was originally a tower house grew to be much more.
The tower house was the home of the Barnwell family.

One of the main features is the large two storey barrel vaulted hall on the ground floor. 
Much of what can be seen today was built in the 18th Century by the castles owner Lord Trimlestown.
The owner was quite a colourful character who apart from building a large estate around the castle also found time to treat the locals (for free) with medical skills gained from living abroad.  

Further work was carried out at the start of the 19th Century and yet soon after the castle was left unoccupied and it soon fell into ruin.

Access - The castle is a short drive from Trim, but you will have to abandon the car quite a distance from the ruin and complete the journey on foot.
Because of the castles size it is very visible from a long way off.  

Donore Castle

Donore Castle would appear to be one of the many £10 castles built at the behest of  King Henry VI - he devised a scheme in the early 14th Century whereby landowners would be paid for building a defensive tower to help protect the pale.
Donore is three stories high, all the corners are rounded with the south/west having a round tower with a crumbling spiral staircase inside.
The castle was  seized by Cromwellian forces in 1650 and many of the McGeoghegan clan (who had built the castle)  were slain in the process.
The castle (which is signed) is located just off the R161 as you travel from Trim to Kinnegad. 

Dunmoe Castle

    

This great looking castle ruin sits overlooking the Boyne river.
The castle was built in the 15th Century and was home to the D'arcy family.
The original castle would have had four round turrets (only two survive).
The castle was four storeys high, with the bottom two floors vaulted.
During the Cromwellian invasion the castle was fired upon in 1649, but avoided major damage.
Fire was this castles undoing during the 1798 rebellion.
Access can be gained down a lane just off the N51.
(If visiting in winter sensible footwear will be needed as the field the leads you to the ruin can resemble a quagmire.)   

Ardmulchan Church

This is the very striking tower of Ardmulchan church.
It stands overlooking the sweeping Boyne river with Dunmoe castle visible in the far distance. 
Ardmulchan derives its name from Ard Maelchon, "Maelchu's Hill".
The tower seems to stand to its full height and can be climbed almost half of the way up-on a very uneven stairway.
The church is dated over 500 years.
Mass continued to be celebrated here as late as 1613.
All around the tower is a mix of graves some very recent and some ancient.
The site also has graves from the Great Famine.
It is claimed that the cemetery wall that surrounds the tower was built with the stones of a nearby destroyed castle. 

Donaghmore Round Tower

A monastery was reputedly founded here in the 5th century by St Patrick, who placed it in the care of St Cassan.
The Round Tower was not built until the 10th century.
It is well-preserved, but its upper part was badly restored in 1841.
The four windows which normally face North, South, East and West at the top of the Round Towers are missing here.
The stone at the top of its roof is also missing.

The doorway, which is about four metres above ground level might not be original.
It has a carved surround with a Crucifixion with twisted legs on the keystone, and a head facing outward from each of the jambs.
The ruin (beside the tower) is of a 15th century church, which gives the site a very Tim Burton like look.