by a single tall shaft, is
often picturesque in the extreme. The proximity of the tower to the church
is so common as to lead writers on Irish antiquities to conjecture that
the former was constructed by the monks who built the church; those
advocating the Christian origin of the round tower taking the ground that
it was built, either as a place of safe-keeping for valuable property, as
a belfry for the church, or for the purpose of providing cells for
hermits.

No one of these suppositions is tenable. In the troublous times of
Ireland, and, unhappily, it has had scarcely any other kind, the
monasteries and ecclesiastical buildings of every description were
generally spared, even by the most ruthless marauders; and, had this not
been the case, those possessing sufficient valuable property to attract
the cupidity of the lawless were far more likely to provide an
inconspicuous hiding place for their wealth than to advertise its
possession by erecting a tower which, from every direction, was invariably
the most conspicuous feature of the landscape. That the towers were not
intended for belfries is evident from the fact that, in nearly every case,
the churches close by are provided with bell-towers forming a part of the
sacred edifice, which would not be the case if the round towers had been
designed for the purpose of supporting bells. That they were not built for
hermit-cells is apparent from the fact that hermit-caves and cells are
abundant in Ireland, and, almost without exception, in secluded spots. No
doubt, from time to time, some of the round towers were adapted to each of
these uses, but, in every case, convenience was the motive, the monks and
church-builders altering the existing structure to meet a pressing
necessity. In fact, there is excellent reason for believing that the round
towers were not built by the monks at all, the monastic writers being very
fond of recording, with great particularity, what they built and how they
built it, and in no passage do they mention the construction of a round
tower. Whenever allusion is made to these structures, their existence is
taken for granted, and several church historians who mention the erection
of churches at the foot of a round tower demonstrate that this peculiar
edifice antedates the introduction of Christianity into Ireland.

The round towers are indisputably of pagan origin, and of antiquity so
great as to precede written history. There is no doubt that the ea