Old Kilcullen Monastery

This early Christian foundation is traditionally associated with early Irish saints Saint Isernius and Saint Mac Táil. It was founded before the 7^th century, as records of the deaths of its abbots are noted in The Annals. A round tower was a necessary safety feature of all financially thriving monastic settlement, as it was where the riches of the settlement were stored in times of attack from the Irish and Vikings. This early Christian foundation was plundered in 937AD with 1000 prisoners taken. It was also raided in 944AD by Amhlaoibh of Dublin and his Viking tribe. The monastery was burned in 1114.

The 3 High Crosses also indicate the importance of the site. After the Act of Supremacy, legislation forced any monastery worth less than £200 in and after 1536 to close. In 1539 the Act for the Dissolution of Greater Monasteries saw the compulsory closure and abandonment of monasteries. These Acts were used by Henry VIII to weaken Rome and seize their vast wealth for Henry’s own.

During the 1798 rebellion much of the site was damaged, with the round tower and church largely destroyed.

The round tower, located with the early Christian site, surrounded by a graveyard, measures 10m tall and built of limestone blocks. The entrance door is 1.8m above ground, and on its south side at second floor level is a window with limestone sill. The high crosses are incomplete with the base of one in the graveyard and its shaft is undecorated. The East Cross, made of granite, is 3m tall and undecorated. The North Cross, also made from granite, is 2m in height with a weathered south face. Its north, east, and west faces have decorative panels depicting Samson slaying the lion, Daniel and the lions, the Flight from Egypt, and several panels of interlace.

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