Timahoe Round Tower and Church

Mochua started off as a soldier, but later became a monk, founding the monastery of Timahoe.

Local folklore says St. Mochua had three pets: a rooster that called him for the hour of Matins, a mouse who would lick his ears if sleepy, and a fly who would mark the spot in Mochua’s Psalter where he stopped reading.

No above ground remains of the church are visible today, with the castle, graveyard, and round tower the last vestiges of Mochua’s monastery at Timahoe. The 15^th century church was rebuilt in the 16^th century, possibly by the Cosby’s, with only a large arch remaining.

Timahoe Round Tower is built of sandstone and limestone, is six storeys internally, with no surviving floors, 29.6m in height, and has a conical cap roof. The four cardinal windows at the base of the conical cap are triangular-headed windows. The interior of the round tower is lit by single slit windows, except for the second floor window which resembles the entrance doorway. The most striking aspect of Timahoe Round Tower is its carved Romanesque doorway, 5m above ground level, unlike any other entrance to round towers in Ireland. The internal arch of the doorway is decorated with lozenge patterns, or chevrons, while the doorway is decorated with typical Romanesque features such as human faces on the angles of the capitals. At the base of the doorway, on the north side to the right, is a rare example of a male Romanesque exhibitionist figure with legs bent behind the ears.

Records show a fire occurred in 919AD at the monastery, which was later rebuilt before an abbey was founded on the same spot by the O’More family in the medieval period.

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This national monument is protected in accordance with the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014