What is recorded here

Indicated (1937) is a roofless circular tower in County Cork, Ireland. The 18th-century structure stands thirty metres from its country house and contains wooden stairs leading to a vanished top floor. Berenger drew the nearby bridge as ruined decades before the tower rose, proving the older stones preceded the fashionable view.

Roofless circular 3-storey 18th-century tower built atop earlier structure c. 30m NE of country house (9642). Ground floor of earlier structure remains, built into E-facing slope; roughly circular in plan with flattened NE side, jagged E end of which continues beyond circumference of tower and forms N side of segmental-arched doorway. Photograph (Hinde 1994) shows S side of doorway also protruding; protrusion subsequently removed; depicted by Berenger (Harbison 1991b, 44-5) as integral part of bridge structure. Internally short flight of stone steps up to 1st floor door in SW wall which leads out to higher ground level. From this level up, later 3-storey circular tower (int. diam. 3.1m) contained wooden stairs to top. Late 18th-century print (ibid.) shows conical roof topped by louvred cap. Beranger's depiction of bridge (c. 1750-1765) shows it as ruinous; earliest phases of tower must therefore pre-date 1750. Named 'Tower' on 1842 OS 6-inch map. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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