The Ruins of the Kilmacduagh Monastery
Near Gort in the county of Galway, Ireland.
Pronounced "kill-mac-doo", the monastery was founded in the 7th century. Most of the present buildings date from the 13th - 14th centuries. The monastery contains a round tower, notable as both a fine example of this particularly Irish feature but also because of its noticeable lean, over 2 feet from the vertical.

The monks were obviously expecting trouble when they had built the round tower. The tower is about 100 feet tall, with the only doorway about 23 feet above ground level. The reason for the doorway's height was that of safety during attack (of which there were many); the monks could pull up the ladder, leaving no access to the attackers.

However, round towers really weren't that safe - the Vikings simply piled up timber around them and lit it up. If the flames didn't cause the tower to crumble, the smoke drove the monks out.

The walls are over six feet thick at the base, underneath which lie some skeletons.

The song is an original from my CD "Curious House" and was recorded using only an acoustic and a digital guitar.