Given their status as an archetypal Irish cultural symbol it is astonishing to learn, from the preface to The Irish Round Tower that "no exacting archaeological investigation" into the towers' unique architecture has ever taken place. Lalor's profusely illustrated book confines itself to the visible architectural remains of the 73 ecclesiastical towers that survive and describes itself as an attempt to breathe some life into the silent stones.
Inevitably his study will be compared with George Barrow's The Round Towers of Ireland (1979) though there are differences which must be noted. Lalor plumps for dates of building between the 10th and 12th centuries whereas Barrow places the first of the round towers as far back as the 7th century. While Lalor lists 73 towers of which some remnant remains, Barrow's book gives 65 towers, plus 23 others which have vanished. Barrow's inventory lists more than 20 towers which he "disqualifies" or describes as "doubtful" while Lalor includes a few of these in his book e.g. Dungiven and Tamlacht in Co Derry and Ferns in Co Wexford. Like doctors, architects and archaeologists apparently differ from time to time.
As the first significant contribution to the debate about the origin of Ireland's round towers in 20 years, Brian Lalor's detailed study is also a practical guide to the towers and contains much new information on their origins and history. This is a book to cherish.
The Cistercian Abbeys of Tipperary (Four Courts Press; £14.95 pb) and Studies in Irish Cistercian History (Four Courts Press; £39.50)
AS a chronicler of Cistercian history in Ireland, Colmcill O Conbhuidhe, OCSO, is without a rival. Since his death in 1992 his work has been increasingly valued and these two newly published volumes attest to this. Both books have been edited by Finbarr Donovan and each carries a foreword by Roger Stalley, another eminent historian of the Cistercians and their monasteries in Ireland.
Generally regarded as the foremost reformers of the Irish Church, the Cistercians themselves were prone to the vicissitudes of the medieval times - wars, plague, impoverishment, corruption and, finally, dissolution. All of this is clearly laid out in the lengthy introduction in The Cistercian Abbeys of Tipperary which is a splendid example of that currently unfashionable genre, narrative history. The other volume consists of a collection of individual articles (reproduced photographically in their varying typefaces) which again tell the story of the Cistercians from 1445 to 1752. Both volumes carry the undeniable badge of Father Colmcille's scholarship and familiarity with primary sources.
Journeys in Ireland - Literary Travellers, Rural Landscapes, Cultural Relations by Martin Ryle (Ashgate; £39.50)
This is not a travel book per se but rather a critical examination of accounts by English, American and Irish travellers who traversed Ireland in search of knowledge and pleasure. It is an esoteric (and expensive) survey of what these various tourists thought of the country, its people and odd places and includes material drawn from many books which are now out of print or hard to find. This leads to all sorts of travellers, from Inglis to Morton and Newby, having a go at capturing the essence and spirit of the Irish landscape and its inhabitants and with Ryle explicating their comments.
The Battle of Oulart Hill - Context and Strategy by Brian Cleary (Oulart Hill Publications; £5)
THE recent opening of the unique Tulach a' tSolais monument on Oulart Hill, Co Wexford, has afforded local historian Brian Cleary the opportunity of producing this, probably the last but certainly one of the best of publications about 1798 emanating from the bi-centenary of the rising last year. Cleary's account is detailed and well-written, as to be expected from this articulate historian, and draws on primary written sources as well as local lore, including the valuable personal narrative of Peter Foley, a survivor of the rising who related his story to Brother Luke Cullen.
Feagh McHugh O'Byrne - The Wick- low Firebrand edited by Conor O' Brien (Rathdrum Historical Society; no price given)
This volume of quarter-centennial essays is edited by Conor O'Brien and published to mark the 400th anniversary of Feagh's death and the erection of a memorial in Parnell Memorial Park at the spot where the then Lord Deputy conferred knighthoods on three Elizabethan officers for their role in capturing and killing the Wicklow chieftain. The contributors include Conor O'Brien himself, Brian Donovan, David Edwards, Harry Long, Darren Mac Eiteagain, Hiram Morgan, Kenneth Nicholls and Emmett O'Byrne. Their scholarly and well-annotated essays give a full and fascinating picture of the O'Byrnes and their country, their struggle against Tudor oppression and Feagh McHugh's role in the Nine Years War. There are details about the different O'Byrne tribes and several genealogical charts in all, everything an O'Byrne needs to know about his or her illustrious ancestors.
Richard Roche is a writer and historian and author of several books on local history