Killashee Round Tower is an Irish round tower that forms part of the monastic remnants of Killashee,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. On the

Record of Monuments and Places The Record of Monuments and Places (RMP; ga, Taifead ar Shéadchomharthaí agus Áiteanna) is a list of historical and archaeological sites the Republic of Ireland established under the National Monuments Acts. It can be consulted in county libr ...

its number is ''KD024-003''.

History

Killashee traces its foundation to the 5th century and is associated with Auxilius, a nephew and companion of

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, with the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

dating its founding to AD 454. Souterrains were also dug during the medieval period. Located on the ancient territory of the Uí Bairrche tribe, Killashee was raided by

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

s in AD 824. In 1035 it was again plundered by Vikings, who also attacked Clane Abbey. The

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

is dated to the 12th or 13th century; it is similar to those at Ferns or

Dungiven Dungiven () is a small town, townland and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is near the main A6 Belfast to Derry road, which bypasses the town. It lies where the rivers Roe, Owenreagh and Owenbeg meet at the foot of the B ...

. In the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

it came under the control of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1539–40) control fell to Thomas Luttrell. Grave in Killashee

The current church dates to the 18th century and was built atop the earlier medieval church. The A-roof line of the old church is visible on the east wall of the round tower. By the 18th century the land was in the hands of the Graydon family, who built a mill, nicknamed "Graydon's Folly", to the north. In 1792 it was visited by

Daniel Charles Grose Daniel Charles Grose (1832 – 1900) was a prolific Canadian-American painter of the Hudson River School who was active between 1864 and 1900. Primarily known for his pastoral landscapes, on occasion he also created marine views. Somewhat at vari ...

who commissioned an

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

by J. Newton. In the mid-19th century the Moore family owned Killashee and built a large

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

mansion; this was in 1927 sold to the

Holy Union Sisters The Holy Union Sisters, officially known as the Sisters of La Sainte Union Des Sacrés-Coeurs (the Holy Union of the Sacred Hearts), are a religious congregation of the Roman Catholic Church founded at Douai, France, in 1828, by Father Jean Baptist ...

for a convent and is today a hotel. The church was in use by the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

until it was closed in 1965; some of the memorial plaques in the church were moved to

St David's Church, Naas St David's Church, Naas is a Church of Ireland church in Naas, Ireland. Location St David's Church is located in the centre of Naas, on the east side of North Main Street, southeast of the Moat of Naas. It is not to be confused with Naas's ...

. It is today heavily overgrown and is closed to the public.

Annalistic references

*AD 454 ( AFM): '' Saint Usaille, Bishop of Cill Usaille, in

Liffe The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE, pronounced 'life') was a futures exchange based in London. In 2014, following a series of takeovers, LIFFE became part of Intercontinental Exchange, and was renamed ICE F ...

, died on the twenty seventh of August.'' *827 (AFM): ''Maeldobharchon, Abbot of Cill Uasaille;'' ied*829 (

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

): ''Mael Dobarchon, abbot of Cell Usaile'' ied*870 (AFM): ''Loingseach, son of Faeillen, Abbot of Cill Ausaille'' ied *874 (AU): '' Áed son of Niall led an army to

Laigin The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish as ''Cóiced Laigen'', meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinsterm ...

and they profaned Cell Ausili, and other churches were burned with their

oratories Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

.'' *1035 (AFM): ''Cill-Usaille and Claenadh were plundered by the foreigners; but the son of Donnchadh, son of Domhnall, overtook them, and made a bloody slaughter of them.''

Buildings

In 1837, it was reported that none of the old church was left, but there was a round tower with a square base attached to the west end of the modern stone church. The

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

reported that "a few years ago an old castle stood near the Round Tower" but that it had been thrown down and that "the stones of it are yet to be seen." The round tower is small, covering three storeys, and is built of uncoursed

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

blocks. It is incorporated into the fabric of the church in an unusual manner, with St Kevin's Kitchen in Glendalough being the most similar. There is a graveyard surrounding the tower and church, and a holy well dedicated to Saint Patrick located nearby.

References

{{reflist Christian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Naas Killashee Christian monasteries established in the 5th century Archaeological sites in County Kildare Church buildings of the Knights Hospitaller 5th-century establishments in Ireland