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St Brigid's Cathedral Grounds
The Round Tower
The Round Tower is one of the finest surviving examples
and, at 33 metres, the second highest in Ireland. It was built
in the 12th. century, which is comparatively late for an Irish
Round Tower, though the present tower may have replaced an
earlier one. The bottom 3 metres are built of dressed granite
blocks while the rest is constructed of limestone rubble.
The tower is accessible to visitors during the summer and
is well worth the necessary climb on internal ladders to the
roof for the view.
The tower has a four-ordered Romanesque decorated doorway,
though it is badly damaged. The bell floor has, unusually,
5 windows. The open roof is flat with a high parapet of stepped
Irish battlements, a later addition to the tower which would
originally have had a conical roof.
The High Cross
The granite High Cross, because of its lack of decoration,
is difficult to date. The base is massive for such a slender
shaft and head and may not be the original.
St. Brigid's Fire House
The remains of an ancient oratory where, according to local
lore, St. Brigid's Fire was kept alight. The shape of the
oratory and the thickness of the remains of the walls/foundations
would testify to its antiquity.
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