MAKING HISTORY Round towers


Round towers were built in some monasteries, such as Glendalough and Clonmacnoise. They were stone towers between 25 and 40 metres tall. They were wider at the base and tapered (became narrower) towards the top. The door was high above the ground and was reached by a ladder or wooden steps. Inside there were four or more wooden floors. At the top of the tower, there were four windows facing north, south, east and west. ● The towers were used as belfries (bell towers) when a hand bell was rung from the top windows to call monks to services. They were also used for storage and for safety when the monastery was attacked by the Irish or by Viking raiders from Denmark and Norway. Some were built for the prestige (status) of the monastery.


Assessing Your Learning


1. Name one monk and one nun who founded a monastery or a nunnery, and the monastery/nunnery they founded.


2. The person in charge of a monastery was called (i) an abbot or (ii) a governor or (iii) a head.


3. What was the main activity of the monks and nuns? 4. What work did monks do? 5. What was the refectory in a monastery?


6. Beehive huts in Skellig Michael were made of (i) timber or (ii) timber and straw or (iii) stone.


Cross-section of a round tower, showing timber floors. Round towers were used as a belfry, for storage and for protection.


The round tower at Glendalough A4.5


An artist’s reconstruction of an early Irish monastery with round tower, wattle and daub and thatched roof houses, and a stone church


48


An aerial photograph of the ruins of Clonmacnoise on the banks of the River Shannon


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