Hamilton Tower, folly in County Limerick

What is recorded here

Hamilton Tower in Ballygiltenan North is where, local tradition says, Hamilton greeted passing navy ships by firing a cannon. A wave would have done, but it’s hard to get a wave noticed when you’ve spent that much on a tower.

Freestanding square-plan three-stage limestone tower, built c. 1820, having single-storey wings projecting from each side ending in solid square piers in imitation of turrets. Wing to west returns to form a semi-enclosure. Multi-stepped battlements to roofline. Pointed arch window openings to second stage with brick voussoirs and timber fittings. Pointed arch window openings to curtain walls having brick voussoirs and blind arrow slits. Irregular stonework with deeply recessed joints. Square-headed door opening to south elevation.

This interesting folly, built by John Hamilton Esq., dominates the countryside for many miles by virtue of its prominent, elevated position. According to local tradition, there were once cannons on top of the tower. As the navy ships passed up and down the River Shannon, Captain Hamilton fired the cannon in salute. It forms part of the building tradition within Glin Castle for garden buildings and other follies. Although it is a very simple building, decoration is achieved in the window openings and in the stonework. The side wall, which forms a semi-enclosure, may have had the practical function of sheltering livestock, although it appears that the tower had no other function save a visual one. Despite its neglection in recent years, it continues to fulfill its original function as a picturesque eye-catcher from Glin Castle.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 21830015

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