24/05/2026
The rest of the photos from Kildare I took last weekend. It really is worth visiting. I'm not really a religious person but I just love going to churches and seeing all the different coloured stain glass windows, especially in the famous round tower.
The Kildare round tower stands as one of Ireland's most architecturally sophisticated examples, combining exceptional height, elaborate Romanesque decoration, and advanced construction techniques. Its association with St. Brigid's Cathedral and the famous monastery founded by Ireland's most celebrated female saint makes it a site of enormous historical and religious significance.
Standing in the northwest sector of the graveyard about 30 meters northwest of St. Brigid's Cathedral, this magnificent round tower represents one of Ireland's finest examples of Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture. Rising to 32.6 meters with a diameter of 5.3 meters, it combines exceptional height with elaborate decorative elements that mark it as a masterpiece of medieval Irish craftsmanship.
The tower's Romanesque doorway places it in the later phase of round tower construction (12th century) when Irish ecclesiastical architecture was incorporating continental European decorative traditions while maintaining distinctively Irish structural forms.