What is recorded here

The eleventh-century tower at Drumlane predates the church beside it, rising eleven metres from County Cavan soil with a rebuilt top that marks later human intervention. Two carved chickens face left on its lower wall, a rare image that still resists easy explanation. The round doorway and re-set window suggest a place where prayer, warning and memory collided before the present building claimed the ground.

The round tower stands close to the NW angle of the present church (CV014-028003-) and pre-dates it. Its lower courses (ext. diam. 5.1m; H c. 6.7m) are well-set but the top (total surviving H 11.6m) was re-built with a cruder finish (Barrow 1979, 56). The round-headed doorway that has a raised architrave is at the first floor facing SE, and the only surviving window is round-headed and re-set in the upper part of the wall over the doorway (O’Keeffe 2004, 143). The floors were supported on off-sets (Barrow 1979, 56-7). Two stones on the lower part of the round tower (H c. 2.2m over ground), facing E and N, have images in relief of a hen and a cock both facing left, which is not fully understood and rarely represented in Ireland (McCabe 2017). The architrave around the doorway could date the tower to the eleventh century. This is a National Monument in state care (No. 4). See the attached image of the doorway The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1995). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of revision: 27 July 2018 Kirk, C. 2022 The Church and Priory at Drumlane. The Spark: border counties local history review, 34, 38-40.

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