{"id":158,"date":"2007-08-29T11:17:59","date_gmt":"2007-08-29T11:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.229.91.100\/libraryandarts\/library\/ehistory\/?p=158"},"modified":"2025-09-24T13:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T12:09:10","slug":"allen-the-tower-on-the-hill-of-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/allen-the-tower-on-the-hill-of-allen\/","title":{"rendered":"ALLEN – THE TOWER ON THE HILL OF ALLEN"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Leinster Leader, August 3rd 1963.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A Leinster Landmark<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The tower on The Hill of Allen<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
by<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Eileen Ryan<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of Leinster\u2019s best known landmarks, and the one which probably lingers longest in the memory of the county\u2019s exiles is the Tower on the Hill of Allen.\u00a0 Its outline appearing on the horizon means home for so many returning Kildare people.
\nKnown locally as \u201cAylmer\u2019s Folly,\u201d The Tower was the strange idea of a man who was in the year 1798, Sir Gerald George Aylmer, of Donadea Castle, Co. Kildare.
\nCommenced in 1859, the work of building the Tower continued during the summer months only of the subsequent four years, as the position was too exposed for masonry work during the winter.\u00a0 There does not appear to have been any architect or engineer.<\/div>\n
PURPOSE UNCERTAIN<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two masons named Lawrence and William Gorry, brothers, built the Tower, and their names are cut on the landing at the top of the stairs.\u00a0 The purpose for which the tower was erected is uncertain.\u00a0 William Gorry had been bound to the trade at the age of sixteen years, in the year 1846.\u00a0 He frequently worked at Donadea Castle, and often told how Sir Gerald would look across from there to Allen hill and say \u201cI\u2019ll build something on that.\u201d\u00a0 He would examine the work as it proceeded, and tell the masons that it was better to spend his money giving employment than paying engineers.
\nThe Hill of Allen lies about five miles to the north of Kildare, and commands an extensive view of the Dublin, Wicklow and Slieve Bloom mountains, as well as the Curragh plains, and the surrounding immense bog to which it gives its name.\u00a0 It is renowned as having been the site of the royal residence of the famed champion, Finn Mac Cumhail, a real historical character that flourished there in the latter end of the 3rd century.<\/div>\n
FAINT TRACES<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are now but faint traces to indicate the site of the royal palace.\u00a0 The summit of the Hill is very level and was formerly surrounded by earth entrenchments.\u00a0 A small mound called Suidh-Fionn, Finn\u2019s Chair, occupies the highest point, and in its centre stands the Tower.
\nIn an age when labour-saving machinery and materials were unknown the erection of the Tower on such an elevation must have been a formidable undertaking.\u00a0 When digging the foundations the workmen discovered a cave, nine feet deep, filled with soft clay at the bottom of which they came upon a remarkably large human skeleton, which was believed in the neighbourhood to have been that of the giant Finn MacCumhail.
\nThe Tower is about 60 feet high, the base of it being 676 feet above sea-level, and the internal diameter is 9 feet.\u00a0 It is built of limestone, quarried and cut at Edenderry, and brought from there to Robertstown by canal, and carted to the Hill by Sir Gerald\u2019s tenants.\u00a0 He promised that their names would be cut as \u201can everlasting memorial\u201d on the steps of the Tower.\u00a0 There are eighty-three steps, and on each one name is inscribed, making a list in stone of the ancestors of many families still living in the Allen district.<\/div>\n
FROM\u00a0 BALLYKNOCKAN<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Three canons formerly stood at Donadea Castle, and from one of these the wheels were borrowed for the four-wheeled lorry which conveyed the stones to the top of the Hill.\u00a0 The granite coping and steps, and the pedestal of the table at the top of the Tower, came from Ballyknockan, CoWicklow, and the limestone table from Edenderry.\u00a0 On the Hill of Allen itself was quarried the stone which lines the tower.
\nWilliam Gorry and his brother completed their work by placing a copper-framed glass dome on the tower, and a railing around the building.
\nOn the outside of the tower numerous inscriptions are scattered, and on the flags inside the iron railing the visit of the then Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward VII is recorded: \u201cSeptember 16 A.D. 1861 H.R.H. The Prince of Wales ascended this Tower.\u201d\u00a0 The Prince was stationed at the Curragh during the year 1861, and on August 24th of that year Queen Victoria reviewed the troops at the Camp.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
THE INSCRIPTION<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Inside the tower at the top of the stairs, is the following inscription:-
\n\u201cIn thankful remembrance of God\u2019s mercies, many and great- Built by Sir Gerald George Alymer, Baronet, A.D. 1860\u201d: and on the top landing: \u201cLawrence and William Gorry, Bros., Masons.\u201d Then on the top steps are the words \u201cassisted by\u201d and the names of the tenants are given on the steps as follows: – James Dowling, Allenwood: Anne Healy, Allenwood: Wilson Symonds, Allenwood, Thomas Baker, Allenwood, Patrick Logan, Allenwood, John Tiernan, Allenwood: Michael Gannon, Allenwood: Thomas Culleton, Allenwood: James Walsh, Allenwood: William Flynn, Allenwood: Denis Healy, Ballentine: John Tiernan, Ballentine: William Lazenby, Ballentine: Mel Somers, Ballyteague: Christ. Healy, Ballyteague: Peter Healy, Ballyteague: Edmond Hegarty, Ballyteague: Edward Payne, Ballyteague: James Doyle, Ballyteague: John Thornton, Ballyteague: James Hennigan, Ballyteague: Patrick Moran, Ballyteague: Francis Dowling, Barnecrow: James Carroll, Barnecrow: Francis Dowling, Baronstown: George Low, Baronstown: Thomas Flood, Carrick: James Walsh, Carrick: George Wilson, Carrick: Elizabeth Knowles, Carrick: James Doogan, Carrick: Patrick Lennon, Cloncumber: Thomas Hynes, Cloncumber: Robert Strong, Coolagh: Thomas Carter, Coolagh: Joseph Strong, Coolagh: John Rochford, Coolagh: Patrick Callan, Derrymullen: Bridget Mulhall, Derrymullen: Thomas Harbert, Derrymullen: Joseph Payne, Drimshree: Peter Cribbin, Drimshree: Michael Thorpe, Drimshree: Samuel Strong, Dunburne: William Wilson, Dunburne: Hugh Kelly, Dunburne: James Dowling, Dunburne: Patrick Dunn, Dunburne: Charles Ryan, Dunburne: James Norton, Grangeclare: William Price, Grangeclare: James Carter, Grangeclare: John Fitzpatrick, Grangeclare: Michael Connor, Grangeclare: Joseph Nevitt, Grangeclare: Joseph Carter, Grangeclare: Thomas Carter, Grangeclare: George Price, Grangeclare: William Tyrell, Grangeclare: Lawrence Behan, Grangeclare: James Brennan, Grangeclare: John Lazenby, Grangeclare: William Ormsby, Grangeclare: Christopher Hickey, Grangeclare: John Cribben, Grangeclare: Ed. Nowlan, Grangehiggin: Matthew Nowlan, Grangehiggin: Peter Noylan, Kilmeague: William Curtis, Kilmeague: Stephenson Haslam, Kilmeague: Matthew Lazenby, Kilmeague: John Healy, Kilmeague: Christopher Quinn, Littleton: Marcella Cribbin, Lowtown: Lawrence Cribbin, Lowtown: Matthew Knowles, Pluckerstown: Denis Dunny, Pluckerstown: John Dunny, Pluckerstown: Patrick Hickey, Rathernan: Richard Kelly, Rathernan: Catherine Healy, Russellstown: Peter Healy, Russellstown.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

(original article had Eileen Ryan’s name at bottom but placed here at top to clearly indicate the author; Eileen Ryan is well-remembered in Co. Kildare for her excellent book on Monasterevin. I believe she lived at Hybla)<\/em><\/p>\n

[compiled and edited by Mario Corrigan; typed and edited by Carl Dodd]<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interesting article on the Tower of Allen by Eileen Ryan from the Leinster Leader of 1963.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-places"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kildare Local Studies","author_link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/author\/localstudies\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7755,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions\/7755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}