Scattery Island

Round Tower

The round tower on Scattery Island is obviously the most dominant building on the island. Some of the towers features suggest it could be the oldest of all the round towers in Ireland. The most notable of these features is the doorway, which is at ground level. The only other tower with a doorway at ground level is the one at Castledermot. At first glance the 1.43 metre high doorway appears to be arched but on closer inspection you can see a corbelling technique was used with a capstone creating the ached appearance. Above this is a long stone acting as lintel. See image below. The doorway is 0.685 metres wide at the bottom with inclined jambs.

The round tower is about 26 metres high and was built using rough coursed sandstone masonry. There are windows lighting each storey plus the four in the bell storey, each facing one of the cardinal points. There are ten windows in total present in the drum. The truncated steep cap may have been struck by lightning in the past. The offset, which can be viewed below right, is clearly visible.