A dumpy tower fought over by two bishops

The Turlough Round Tower stands proudly overlooking the gardens of the National Museum of Country Life. It dates to the c.9th century and its conical top was replaced in 1880. The church beside it was built in the 18th century and incorporates a 16th-century mullioned window and a small plaque with a crucifixion dated to 1625. It is reputed that St. Patrick founded a monastery and carried out baptisms at the nearby well even though there are no records of him ever visiting this area! These associations led to a long dispute over its ownership between the Archbishops of Armagh and Tuam right up to 1351. This squabble went all the way to Rome and the Pope had to intervene authorizing the rights to be relinquished to the Archbishop of Tuam. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, its possession went into the hands of the Bourke family and soon after to The Fitzgerald family in 1655.