Rattoo Round Tower

Overview

Two things at Rattoo make it worth the turn off the R551, and both are close-up details you’d miss from the road. The doorway, set 2.83 metres up the tower’s southeast face, is carved with a pair of spirals that twist in opposite directions – a motif found on no other Irish round tower. And set into the frame of the north window is a small Sheela-na-gig, about 30 cm high, the only one known inside a round tower anywhere in Ireland (a plaster cast is kept in the National Museum). Give it twenty minutes for those two things and the graveyard, and you’ve seen what Rattoo does that nowhere else does.

The tower itself is the only complete round tower left in County Kerry, standing 29.56 metres tall with a basal circumference of 15 metres, built of hard quartzose yellow sandstone on a limestone plinth. It is a state-owned National Monument in the care of the Office of Public Works, just outside the village of Ballyduff. One thing to know before you set off: the interior is closed, so all viewing is from the outside – there’s nothing to climb.

History

The tower is dated to around 1100, with radiocarbon analysis of its mortar confirming a medieval origin. The wider ecclesiastical complex is thought to date to the 13th century, though tradition links the site to the 6th-century bishop Lughach. In 1210 Meiler Fitzhenry received the estate from King John, and an Augustinian house – the Hospital of St John the Baptist, also known as the Abbey of SS Peter and Paul – was founded shortly after.

It was a hard site to hold. In 1318 the monks were killed and the buildings burned by the Irish; in 1600 the complex was burned again, this time by Sir Charles Wilmot’s forces. The estate later passed through the Desmond earls and English commander John Zouche, and by the late 19th century the Gunn family had drained the surrounding wetlands into the farmland you see today. The tower survived largely thanks to an OPW restoration in 1880–81, which reset the upper two-thirds of its conical cap.

What to see

• The doorway – the round-headed entrance on the southeast side, with its curvilinear arch and the two counter-twisting spirals that make it unique.
• The Sheela-na-gig – set in the frame of the north window; look closely, it’s small.
• The windows – a smaller pointed window sits above the door on the southeast side; the four upper windows face east, west, north and south, giving the tower its even, balanced profile.
• Church and graveyard – the church ruins beside the tower are part of the medieval complex, with a double ogee-headed window still visible. The graveyard holds 29 tombs and 16 named headstones, the earliest dating to 1770, alongside 45 unnamed markers.
• Photography – the open fields make a gentle loop around the monument; early or late light rakes across the stonework and shows the tower’s height best, especially when the sandstone catches the sun.

Practical information

• Access and admission – free, open year-round in daylight hours. Internal access is not permitted; all viewing is from the exterior and grounds.
• Location and parking – roughly 2.4 km from Ballyduff and about 25 km north of Tralee. Follow the R551 and the Rattoo signposts to a narrow country lane; there’s a small dedicated car park with around ten spaces at the end of it. The lane is unsuitable for HGVs, and the spaces fill quickly at busy times.
• Facilities – none on site. The nearest café, pub and toilets are in Ballyduff, about a 2 km drive.
• Getting there without a car – the nearest bus stop is in Ballyduff, from which it’s roughly a 15-minute walk; Bus Éireann services are infrequent, so check timetables first.
• Safety – this is an unguided site. Watch for uneven ground in the graveyard and don’t climb or lean on the stonework.

Nearby attractions

If you’re making a North Kerry loop of it:

• Ardfert – a 15-minute drive, with a medieval cathedral and round-tower complex linked to St Brendan.
• Listowel Castle – about 11 km north, a 15th-century tower house with seasonal guided tours.
• Ballyheigue and Ballybunion – coastal towns with historic forts and Blue Flag beaches for a seaside afternoon.
• River Feale – follow the estuary for walking paths and birdwatching.

Come on a clear day when the quartzose sandstone lights up, walk the doorway and the north window, and you’ll have seen the two carvings that put Rattoo in a category of one.