Timahoe Round Tower

• Co. Co Laois
• Listed in Heritage attractions

Near the village of Timahoe in a broad fertile valley in County Laois stands the Timahoe Round Tower, a stunningly carved example of 12th-century stonework. An extraordinarily carved doorway makes this the most elegant round tower in Ireland: Romanesque-style carvings of human heads, with flowing beards and moustaches, decorate the main entrance, about five metres from the ground. The round tower was built some time in the 1100s, on the site of a religious community founded by Saint Mochua (a 7th-century warrior who converted to Christianity) around 600 AD.