Located on the summit of Carrick Wood, County Laois, this is Ireland’s other – and older – Spire. A circular folly crowned with an immensely tall stone conical roof, the date of its construction is uncertain. Writing in 1801, Sir Charles Coote proposed that the spire had been erected ‘to give employment to the poor in the year of the great frost’ (namely 1740-41). On the other hand, in 1814 William Shaw Mason wrote that it had been built ‘by the late Lord Viscount Carlow, grand-father of the present Earl of Portarlington’. Since the Carlow viscountcy was only created in 1776, this suggests a later period of construction. Another notion is that the building was originally a windmill, later converted into a folly. Restored in 2005, it remains in good condition although, alas, marred by the inevitable – and inevitably unimaginative – graffiti.
Surprising that there is no internal stair or ladder.to assist with its construction.
Thanks for the tip Robert, I live about 15 minutes from it and I regret to say that I didn’t know it was there.
“by the late Lord Viscount Carlow” he had this title on his death but could he not have constructed it on 1740 before he became a viscount ?
Indeed, the same thought occurred to me…
Happy New Year Patrick
The vandals responsible for the grafitti need to be found and punished.