At last - nearly at the end of holiday pictures. On Sunday we went first to this old monastic settlement, and then to a lake (pictures tomorrow, I expect).
Kilmacduagh (Co. Galway) was founded in the 7th century by St. Colman. The round tower is 30 metres high (almost 100 ft), with the only door being 7 metres up (23ft), and it leans over half a metre (1.5 ft) off the vertical.( Round towers were built in a lot of monastic settlements in Ireland, as a refuge from raiding Vikings.) On thinking about it, to say it leans off the vertical by a length is not a sensible measurement, it should be an angle to really mean anything. But while I can remember that the square on the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares on the other two sides, I can't for the life of me remember what I need to work out the two angles other than the right angle. Sine? Cosine? I think I know where my Log Tables are, but it doesn't seem worth the trouble right now!
Most of the buildings are more recent - 12th and 13th c. I really should have written down what they were called. The tiny little arched ruin is all that's left of St. John's Church
This carved head was on the main Kilmacduagh Cathedral if I remember correctly - that's the big building near the tower.
O'Heyne's Abbey, across a field from the main settlement.
The carved stone capitals were both in O'Heyne's Abbey.
There is also a partially restored building called The Bishop's House, but we didn't get the key to go in. C is not really into "history", and I am surprised that he agreed to visit here given that we've already been once before.
2 comments:
These photos are so cool. It gives me the chance to visit there with you.
What wonderful sites you visited. So glad you have the pictures to share. One really has to be in awe of the stonework that is still standing after all these years.
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