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High Towers and Tightwads

© Lianne Bruynell Lopes

Scattered throughout the Emerald Isle, standing tall and proud against the sky, are what are called high towers, or round towers. These long, thin structures with pointed roofs served a serious purpose back in warring medieval days. High towers were built for protection from raiders. Whole villages would often flock to their protection. They were built of stone, with a door at least 25 feet up, and a rope ladder dangling down from it. When under attack, the people would climb up into the tower as far to the top as possible. The last person would pull up the rope ladder, and the townsfolk would wait out the attack inside. Some were built with small slits in the wall for archers to shoot down at the enemy. Some even had cauldrons with boiling water or tar.

The majority of these structures, however, were built by monks. When the Vikings found out that churches and monasteries were filled with treasures of gold and jewels, they began to concentrate their attacks on these religious places, more often than not butchering the priests, burning their books, and carrying off the fortunes. Being peaceful men, the monks needed some form of protection for themselves and their gold, and in the high tower they found their means.

A tale is told about one particular round tower at the monastery at Clonmacnoise. Founded by St. Ciaran in 544,(*see note below) the monastery and the monks that studied and worshiped there saw many ups and downs. A particularly terrible period in history, sometime around the ninth and tenth centuries, saw the evil about affect even the monks. Churches and monasteries all over Ireland had been looted, and now the monks at Clonmacnoise wanted to save every penny possible, though they had plenty. In building their high tower, the monks hired a mason named Owen. He was half finished with the second tower at the monastery, when the monks decided he charged far too much. One day while he was at the top laying the stones, several of the monks gathered around the bottom and shouted up to him.

"Owen, your prices are too high. Our abbey is poor, and can't pay you so high a price." With a chuckle, Owen stopped his work and looked down at the brown clad monks.

"Your abbey has more money than the country has cows," he said. "My price is fair enough."

Thinking they'd gotten the best of him, the monks arrogantly began taking down the scaffolding. "Then you'll stay up there until you come down on the price," they told him.

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