Kilree’s round tower stands in the middle of a working cattle field, and reaching it means crossing that field – there is no formal public access, and the Office of Public Works’ own notice says as much. That is worth knowing before you set out, because everything else about the place rewards the walk in: a 29-metre round tower, an 8th-century high cross and a ruined pre-Romanesque church, all unguided, all free, and none of them fenced off from the grazing around them.
The easiest way to do it is to fold Kilree into a visit to Kells Priory. The site is signposted across the road from the priory car park, about a three-minute drive south, so most people see the two together.
History and legend
The settlement traces to Saint Rhuidche (or ‘Ree’), a 6th-century founder whose name survives in the Irish Cill Rí. The oldest fabric is the church nave, built in the 10th century; a chancel was added in the 12th, keyed into the existing antae, the projecting gable walls that mark early Irish churches. By 1340 the complex had passed to the Augustinian canons of Kells Priory, who held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.
Local folklore adds a darker thread. Legend has it that the 9th-century High King Niall Caille lies buried beneath the high cross. The annals tell a different story – they record him drowning in the river Callan, near Armagh, in 846 – so the burial is almost certainly a tale rather than a fact. It has kept Kilree’s name alive all the same.
What to see
The church
The ruined church keeps much of its original limestone. Both gables carry antae, and a later concrete buttress props the west gable to stop it slipping. Inside, a simple piscina is set into the south wall; the chancel holds two medieval grave-slabs and a carved chest tomb of Richard Comerford of Danganmore (d. 1622) and his wife Johanna St Leger, remembered on it as ‘a matron pious, hospitable and charitable to all’.
The round tower
At 29.3 metres, the round tower dominates the field. It sits on a rectangular stone pad foundation, a quirk it shares with the nearby Aghaviller tower, and rises through six storeys to a battlemented top. Its doorway is set about 2 metres above the ground – reached by ladder when the tower was in use – and four cardinal windows lit the upper floors.
Key features:
- Height: 29.3 m (roughly 96 ft)
- Doorway: about 2 m above ground level
- Diameter: about 5 m
- Structure: six storeys plus battlements
The high cross and bullaun stone
The sandstone high cross stands about 2.15 metres tall according to the OPW, though some guides give 2.75 m, and it is heavily worked with bosses and geometric panels. Its figural scenes are badly weathered and read differently by different scholars – variously a hunting scene, the Adoration of the Magi and Daniel in the lions’ den. A tenon at the summit shows a capstone once sat there before the weather took it.
About 230 metres north of the tower, in the corner of a field, sits a bullaun stone, its cup-shaped hollow said by local tradition to gather curative rainwater. Other medieval grave-slabs lie scattered about, among them one for Thomas Howling, ‘lord of Kilri’, dated 1534.
Visiting
Kilree is entirely self-guided, with next to no signage, so a little reading beforehand pays off.
- Getting in: park at the Kells Priory car park and cross the road to the signposted field entrance. There is no dedicated car park at Kilree itself.
- The field: it is actively grazed, and a sign warns of a bull. Keep your distance from cattle, stay clear of gateways, and close any gate behind you.
- Access: you cross a low stile onto uneven, often muddy ground – not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies.
- Dogs: no policy is posted; if you bring one, keep it on a short lead and away from livestock.
- Safety: the OPW disclaims liability here. The tower interior is closed, so don’t attempt to climb it.
Getting there
By car: from Kilkenny city, head north on the N10 toward Stoneyford, then turn for Kells. The priory car park is 2.5 km south of the village; Kilree is signposted across the road.
By public transport: Bus Éireann route 354 stops in Kells, a walk of about 15 minutes from the site. Taxis run from Kilkenny city if you’d rather not walk.
Nearby attractions
- Aghaviller – a neighbouring round tower and church, a few kilometres north.
- Grangefertagh – another well-preserved round tower and church ruin.
- Kells Priory – the walled Augustinian ruin that once held Kilree, across the road.
- Jerpoint Abbey – a Cistercian ruin on the River Nore known for its carved cloister, roughly 30 km east.
- Dunmore Cave – a limestone cave with a grim Viking-age history north of Kilkenny city.
- Callan – a medieval market town on the Kings River.
Come with boots and, ideally, after a dry spell: the field is the whole experience here, and the walk from the priory car park is the surest way to see both sites without leaving your car twice.