We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.

Taghadoe

Location
(53°21′26″N, 6°37′8″W)
Taghadoe
N 92 35
pre-1974 traditional (Republic of Ireland) Kildare
now Kildare
  • Rachel Moss
Aug 1998

Please use this link to cite this page - https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=14667.

Find out how to cite the CRSBI website here.

Feature Sets
Description

A round tower roughly 20 m high built of poor quality limestone with some granite detailing.

History

The monastery at Taghadoe was possibly founded by St Tua. The nearby church was constructed in 1821 and during its 40 years of service the tower was used as a coal store, with a doorway punched through at ground level. This doorway was built up in 1886 when the tower became a national monument.

Features

Exterior Features

Doorways

Comments/Opinions

The tower appears to belong to a group of Leinster towers, the portals of which are decorated with disembodied heads. Other examples include Kells (Meath), Donaghmore (Tipperary) and Dromiskin (Louth). The worn condition of the head prohibits further comparison.

Bibliography

L. Barrow, The Round Towers of Ireland, Dublin, 1979, 124–6.

W. Fitzgerald, ''The round towers of the county of Kildare; their origins and use', Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society, 1 (1891), 91–4.

P. Harbison, Guide to the National and Historic Monuments of Ireland, 2nd ed., Dublin, 1992, 192.

B. Lalor, The Irish Round Tower, Cork, 1999, 166–7.