A church of very primitive construction, and probably several centuries older than the tower, stands in the cemetery, at a little distance to the north-east of the other remains. Its only doorway is placed, as usual, in the centre of the west gable. It is square-headed, and possesses every indication of great antiquity; but the accumulation of the churchyard soil has buried the lower portion at least to a depth of several feet. The church consisted of a nave and chancel; the latter has been destroyed, but a plain semicircular chancel arch remains. The church immediately adjoining the round tower is obviously an erection of the early part of the thirteenth century.
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Doorway of Kildare Tower.
Kildare.—The round tower of Kildare is in several respects one of the most remarkable in Ireland. Its doorway, of which an illustration is annexed, is unusually rich, of Irish-Romanesque work, consisting of three concentric arches, upon two of which a variety of mouldings appears. The external arch is quite plain, and evidently not as ancient as the others. An ornamental canopy, a portion of which still remains, once surmounted the doorway. A still more remarkable and finer doorway is that of Timahoe. The tower of Kildare is 105½ feet high, and 55 feet in circumference; it bears evidence of having been repaired at various periods. Like the round tower of Cloyne, in the County of Cork, and like those of Kilkenny and Kilmallock, it is finished with a plain battlemented parapet, comparatively modern, and added, probably, at some period when the original roof of stone had been destroyed, perhaps by lightning.
Round Tower, Devenish.
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Devenish.—This tower, with other remains of antiquity, some of which are associated with the name of St. Molaise (see [p. 288]), stands on the Island of Devenish in Lower Lough Erne, a couple of miles from Enniskillen. The tower is 84 feet 10 inches high, and is remarkable for its symmetry, and the perfection and regularity of its masonry to the very apex. It has a round-headed doorway 9 feet from the ground; at this part it is 8 feet in diameter, and the walls are 4 feet thick. It has five storeys. Above the doorway is a triangular-headed window, and the top storey has four windows nearly facing the cardinal points. It has the unique distinction of possessing the only external decoration not connected with apertures. This is a cornice or band of Romanesque work, of good design, immediately beneath the conical cap. On the band, and over the apertures, are quaintly-executed heads, the beards consisting of interlaced patterns. The tower was thoroughly restored in 1835.