Kinneigh Round Tower Co. Cork

Kinneigh Round Tower
County Cork
O.S. Map 86
Cionn Eich: The head/headland of the horse

Location: The unique Kinneigh Tower is located approx. 5 km northwest of the villages of Enniskean and Ballineen in West Cork on a side road just to the south of R 588. It stands on a rock outcropping overlooking St. Bartholomew's C. of I. parish church and cemetery.

Dimensions: The entire tower is composed of local slate. There are two offsets above the rock outcropping on which the tower is built. The top offset is approx. 5 cm wide and 10 cm high. The lower offset is approx. 15 cm wide and averages approx. 40 cm high. The door is about 4 meters above the ground facing northeast and is near the top and center of one of the hexagons at the first floor level. The lintel of this doorway is massive. Just above the doorway, the tower transitions from the hexagonal base to the round drum by means of clever and skilled mason work. The top storey is open and there is no evidence of it ever having been roofed. The final five feet of the drum is evidently a later addition as the work is irregular and projects a bit at some points. From the base of the lower offset to the top of the drum is approx. 21.5 meters. There are four very small square windows in the drum facing, in ascending order, ESE, W, NNE and S. There are no traditional bell-storey windows, and whether any existed in the past is impossible to know.

Features: This tower is capless and open at the top, outfitted to house the present mid-19th century church bell. It is the only round tower that is constructed hexagonally for the lower six meters, then making a transition to the typical round form for the remainder of its height.

Comments: Since there is no longer access to the interior of the tower, the large bell, described as being embossed with "J Murphy Founder Dublin 1856" and decorated with a harp with a crown above it and a shamrock below would appear to be no longer in use as there is no obvious means to access the bell ropes that hung through access holes in the upper storeys.

History: From an article in 2000 by Sam Kingston in the Southern Star: "The monastery at Kinneigh was founded by St. Mocholmóg in the year 619, according to the 'Annals of Cork'. It was situated about half a mile west of the present site of the Round Tower. Very little of its history is known and only a fragment of the walls of the old building remains. But the wall or fence that surrounded the monastery grounds, enclosing about 16 acres, still exists and the Castle Rock was within the monastery grounds. Within the grounds was an old cemetery and another part of the grounds was known as the "Abhalgort" or Orchard." A lightning strike in 1837 caused a fissure on the south side and was most likely repaired as the bell was installed around 1857 when the present church was built. The tower attained National Monument status within the last decade and in 2000 the OPW did some extensive preservation work. The outside access ladder was removed for safety though the stabilized interior ladders between floors apparently still exist.

Other Items of Interest: St. Batholomew's is a beautiful church typical of it's time period of the mid 19th century. It was undergoing some renovation work at the time of our 2004 visit.