Ireland's Round Towers: Origins and Architecture Explored

Round Towers are the only form of architecture unique to Ireland. The remains of over seventy survive, widely distributed throughout the island, from Cork to Antrim, in some of the most beautiful and historic areas of the country. They include the iconic towers at Cashel in Co. Tipperary and Glendalough in Co. Wicklow, Ireland's most-visited monastic site.This fully illustrated study views the Round Tower as an integral unit of an ecclesiastical complex, now mostly vanished, looking at its architectural design and construction, its function and landscape setting. It looks in detail at each round tower and discusses the uniqueness of each site. In this guide, the Round Towers are listed county by county, allowing readers to locate towers in the immediate area and explore these intriguing products of the Celtic imagination.