Turlough Round Tower and Church

Turlough Round Tower and Church stands on the site of an early medieval monastery, believed to be founded by St. Patrick. The round tower, built by the 12^th century, was plundered by the MacWilliam Irish in 1236. In 1351, Pope Clement VI had to intervene between two waring Archbishops, both claiming ownership of this tower. Eventually, Clement VI ordered the Archbishop of Armagh to relinquish his ownership to the rightful owner, Archbishop of Tuam.

The tower and church occupy the top of a small hill with a steep slope running down to the Castlebar River. The location allows for extensive views to the south and east. The round tower is built of sandstone and is one of Ireland’s smallest complete round towers, standing at 22m tall. Its entrance door is 4m above ground, below which is a later opening. Beneath the conical cap stone are the cardinal windows, rebuilt by the OPW in the 19^th century. The interior of the round tower is lit by four slit windows descending anticlockwise from the top floor down on each level.

The adjoining church was built in the 17^th century, on the site of the early medieval monastery. The church is cruciform in shape, with the entrance in the west wall opening into the nave, with the semi-circular chancel to the east. The north and south transepts are lit from 17^th century mullioned windows. At the centre of the west wall is an intact four-light mullioned limestone window dating to the late 16^th century, and has triangular-shaped stone crowns at the centre of its hood moulding. The stepped ends of the two stones flanking this window have ornamented hood mouldings, with a small decorative roundel with a central rosette and segmented outer ring. The tall round-headed windows are all from rebuilding in the 18^th to 19^th centuries. Four tombs are in the south transept, two table tombs and two box tombs. Also within the church are several grave-slabs and headstones, mainly 19^th to 20^th century in date. The exterior of the church has two crucifixion plaques inserted into the walls. Of the original church only architectural fragments have been found, including a sandstone block with foliate ornamentation dated to the later 12^th century.

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