9th C. Round Tower, Swords, Co. Dublin

0005

All that remains of a 14th century church is the square belfry. The site of the old church being rebuilt upon by the Church of Ireland in 1811. Closeby is a 9th century round tower that is reputed to have held the remains of Brian Boru after the battle of Clontarf before he was taken to Armagh to be buried. It is seventy-three feet high, fifty-two feet in circumference, and the walls four feet thick. It contained five floors. Its present entrance which is level with the ground, is of more modern construction, as well as the roof and upper story: what appears to have been the original doorway is twenty feet from the ground, and but four feet high