Aghagower

Round Tower

The round tower and monastic site at Aghagower totally dominate the village. It is believed that this 7th century monastic site was founded by St Senach. The church and tower are located in a small enclosure in the centre of the village. I arrived here just as the light started to fade and I remember being quite disappointed with the condition of the site. The 15.85 metre high tower is damaged and leans slightly to the north. The south side of the tower is higher than the northside. There was a huge breach in the north side that was poorly repaired in the 1960s. The original coursed masonry on the southside is of a much better quality. You can still clearly see the area that was repaired.. There are two doorways present in the drum. The original arched doorway faces east and is 2.18 metres above ground level. There is evidence of fire damage to this doorway. A second lintelled doorway was later inserted into the northwest of the drum. The three remaining windows in the drum are all lintelled. Also present at the site is a medieval church, two dried up holy wells and a small sheela-na-gig is inserted into the interior of one of the walls surrounding the small well. The sheela is very hard to spot in poor light, I had planned to call back to Aghagower the next day, in the hope of getting a better shot of the tower and the sheela, but I spent too long enjoying the megalithic complex at Killadangan.