Timahoe Round Tower
The Timahoe Round Tower is one of the best preserved round towers in Ireland . The building, which is still in excellent condition, dates from the middle of the 12th century. It is in Timahoe ( Irish Tigh Mochua , "House Mochuas") in County Laois . The tower is built on the site of a monastery which, according to tradition, was founded in the early 7th century by St. Mochua mac Lónáin.
George Petrie (1790–1886) described him as the best of his kind in Ireland. Comparisons with the nearby Killeshin Church make it likely that both were designed by the same workshop.
The tower is 29.3 m high. There are three bulges at the base. Above this offset, the circumference is around 17.5 m, with a diameter of just over 5.5 m. The portal-like door is 4.9 m above the floor. The tower is made of sandstone up to just below the doorway and limestone above it. It slopes to the northwest. A new roof was added to the round tower in the 19th century.
The carved Romanesque portal is unique of its kind. The stone carvings that nestle in four rows on the pillars and arch of the portal are almost unique for round towers. The capitals adorn human faces. The high above ground entrances are typical of Irish round towers.
Above the doorway there are three windows on the following floors that revolve around the tower. The next higher also has decorations on the inside and is rectangular on the outside with a pointed end. This is followed by a purely rectangular and then a smaller square window.
The four windows below the conical roof, which are almost always common in round towers, are again rectangular with an acute-angled end.
literature
- Teach mo Chua - an early ecclesiatical site at Timahoe, Co. Laois Archeology Ireland Heritage Guide No. 83. 2018. ISSN 0790-982X
- Brian Lalor: The Irish Round Tower: origins and architecture explored Collins Press 1999. ISBN 1-898256-64-0
- Tadhg O'Keeffe: Ireland's round towers: buildings, rituals and landscapes of the early Irish church 2004. ISBN 0-7524-2571-4
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 57 ′ 37.5 ″ N , 7 ° 12 ′ 12.5 ″ W.