Round Tower and St Tiarnachs Graveyard

Its structure is uniquely Irish. Built in the 9^th century, The Round Tower at Clones originally stood 96 feet high, had a conical cap, and boasted a staggering diameter of approximately 18 feet. Its cap now destroyed, the old tower still dominates the skyline in Clones.

Many of the old round towers in Ireland were believed to have been storage houses or places of refuge against Viking raids. However, recent works by scholars and archaeologists assert problems with both these ideas. Because the first-floor doorways stand almost 8 feet off the ground, access to the interior of the tower would have been quite difficult, reachable only by ladder. This hardly seems feasible for storing valuables or food stuffs. Vikings were renowned for pillaging and burning. The high wooden doors and chimney-like interiors would have been a death trap for anyone caught inside the tower during a fire.

Having doors located so high above the ground was, many scholars say, not a form of defence but the only way to maintain structural integrity of a round tower with very little foundation beneath it. Many believe that the reason for the round tower was to act as a belfry, not as a storage facility or defensive structure. The design of the round tower imitates that of the European style of bell tower popular at the time. In fact, the Gaelic word for round tower, cloictheath, means bell house.

Adjacent to the tower is an old graveyard with headstones toppled, leaning, a few upright and many marked with clearly obvious—highly controversial—skull and crossbones. While some insist that these were the markings of the Knights Templar, others suggest that they came from the Puritans who showed contempt for mortal existence. Still others believe that these symbols of death, accompanied by the hourglass, the coffin, and the bell (all clearly visible on these headstones) were imported into Ireland by Scottish settlers in the 17^th century.

Within the graveyard, beyond an enormous beech tree—a huge chunk of which had long ago been destroyed—lies the replica of St. Tiarnach’s sarcophagus—a stone version of the ridge-roofed reliquary coffin in which the saint’s bones were placed. A solid block of stone that stood above the grave, one side shows carvings of animals, while the other, mitered heads. Believed to be 8^th to 9^th century, it pays homage to the founder and bishop of Clones monastery, St. Tiarnach.

www.clones.ie T: +353 4752125

How to get there:

From Dublin, N3 to Cavan Town; then N54 to Clones

From Belfast, A3 to Monaghan Town. A3 becomes A2 at border, then N54 SW to Clones

Written by Joy Davis - Summer of Travel 2007