Built in response to the forgotten famine of 1741

The Bottle Tower is located in Churchtown in Dublin and is also known as Hall’s Barn. It was commissioned by Major Hall in 1742 as a miniature replica of the Wonderful Barn which was erected at the same time by Katherine Conolly of Castletown House. It is speculated that its design is based on rice stores in India or a ‘dovecote’ for pigeons. They were built as famine relief projects after the freak weather that hit Ireland in 1740-1741 after freezing cold temperatures that lasted 4 months were followed by severe flooding then again freezing cold temperatures. This became known as ‘The Year of the Slaughter’. It is estimated that 480,000 or 28% of the population died – a far higher death rate than in the Great Famine that happened a century later. The Bottle Tower has had many prominent owners including William ‘Speaker’ Conolly, The Archbishop of Dublin, and the Archbishop of Armagh, and was once a boarding house. It has since been unoccupied for 150 years.