Interior of the round tower, Ardmore (Photos John Sunderland 2022)
The mid-late 12th century round tower is located to the south of the Cathedral. It measures approximately 29 m in height and 5 m in diameter externally at the base. The only door is located 4.2 m above current ground level. There are two grooves on the exterior of the threshold of the door (0.7 m apart) worn through by the use of a long leaning ladder (can you see them? stand at the foot of the tower and look up) that provided access to the doorway. Internal floors do not survive but are indicated by the presence of corbels some of which are decorated with Romanesque ornament, such as animals heads.
These towers have no foundations hence the raised doorway. The tower is visible from up to 14 km away to the west. Currently we believe round towers were built as part of a pan-European fashion for bell towers. Ardmore round tower is one of the most finely built in Ireland and may be one of the latest built also.
The round tower and cathedral were probably built as part of a 12th century power struggle with neighbouring Lismore. Architecture was used by the elites of the 1100s to demonstrate power over political rivals; and Lismore, under the patronage of Cormac MacCarthaig, established its dominance over Ardmore (and the O'Faoláin) and all the time the Anglo-Normans were casting their influence from the 1170s onwards particularly through the political role of the church. Later power struggles may have left their mark on the tower. Can you see possible musketball marks on the west elevation of the tower from the 1642 siege?
Photographs by archaeologist and photographer Dr John Sunderland.
