The Round Tower, Tory Island

We spent a morning on Tory Island, a remote islet off the north west corner of Ireland. It's wild, beautiful, bleak. St Colm Cille spent part of his life in a monastery on the island and a number of ruins remain as a reminder, including An Cloigtheach or the Round Tower.

This is taken from the Tory website:-
"The belfry in An Baile Thiar is the most impressive structure to have survived the destruction of the monastery. Built of granite, in the sixth century the tower is 15.7m in circumference and 12.8m in height. St. Colm Cille's Bell hung in the tower until the late eighteenth century when the cornice was badly damaged by a bolt of lightening."

However, a feature that probably strikes most visitors to the island is how the community appears to take its heritage for granted, however proud the villagers are of their beautiful island. This tower, which is in the middle of the west village, is boxed in by cars, buildings and the telephone wires which are an enduring feature of the Main Street. And sadly there was plastic litter wherever we went. It reminded me of the Outer Hebrides 20 or 30 years ago, when dead cars would just be abandonned in the middle of fields.