What is recorded here

Killeshin in County Laois was a medieval village clustered around a church, moat and round tower before it vanished. When a landlord pulled the tower down in the 18th century, the people fled to Knockarath hill and watched from a distance, fearing the falling stones would level every cabin. They did not return to cheer the break; they returned to the hill, as if the tower had been the centre of the world and its death had emptied the place.

According to local tradition there was a village around the church (LA032-020002-) and moat (LA032-020001-) at Killeshin (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 31-2). According to the OS letters when the round tower (LA032-020003-) of Killeshin was being pulled down in the 18th century by a landlord the local people went to the summit of Knockarath hill, 'and there remained until they saw it laid prostrate. Some imagined that the huge steeple would by its fall so shake the earth as to knock down all the cabins of the village, and others that its stones would fly in every direction' (ibid., 30-1). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2007

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.