Talbot’s tower defended the south-west corner of Kilkenny’s Hightown; the wall to the north extends for 850m as far as the river Breagagh, that to the east for 350m to Kilkenny castle.
The tower was strategically sited to take advantage of a low hill and from its parapets there are extensive views in all directions, making it an extremely effective watch-tower.
The tower was known throughout the medieval period as ‘St. Patrick’s Tower’ in reference to the nearby suburb of Domhnachpatrick. In the nineteenth century it was known as ‘Watter’s tower’. The name ‘Talbot’s tower’ is an early twentieth century invention that alludes to Robert Talbot who was mayor of Kilkenny in the early fifteenth century and was traditionally credited with building the city’s walls.
The tower stands to 9.7m height, is 5.6m diameter internally, and its walls which are 1.65m thick slope to the bottom of the town ditch. The structure that can be seen today is an amalgam of at least three different building episodes.
Before the stone tower was built a timber tower on the corner of an earthen rampart stood in its place. This was probably built around 1200 by the then lord of Leinster William Marshal. It was William’s grandson Gilbert de Clare who was responsible for replacing the earth-and-timber defences with a larger and stronger stone circuit.
The first stone tower was built at this time and was an open-backed turret with a battlemented parapet and a wooden roof. In the 1400s the back of the tower was filled in and the structure was heightened by placing a domed roof over the older battlements. A well-preserved example of wicker centring – the wooden framework which supported the vault during its construction – can still be seen inside the tower.
Access to the top of the roof was gained by a stone stairs that ran inside the wall. There were no major modifications to the tower until the 1700s when its parapets were remodelled to make the tower appear as a garden folly.
Because of drugs related anti-social activity a degree of caution is advised should you choose to visit Cook Street. I would suggest that any of the sites that may be of interest can be better accessed via High street.
In the the early 1800s there were sixteen coffin makers in Cook Street.
A few years ago I took a guided tour of the area near Christ Church and the guide explained that because of the dangers of having fires within the city walls certain actives such as baking were undertaken in streets such as Cook Street which was outside the city walls.
Cook street [off Winetavern Street] is one of the older streets in Dublin and has been in existence since the 14th Century. According to many historians it was originally known as ‘Vicus Cocorum’ meaning ‘the street of the cooks’ and it was also described in early records and maps as ‘Le Coke Street’. It should be noted that a few sections of the Hiberno-Norse wall was discovered along Essex Street West and this street marks the line of the northern wall, which ran parallel to the Liffey, through the Civic Offices and along Cook Street where it still survives today. This limestone wall was substantial in size originally measuring c.7m in height by 2m wide, from stone quarried locally.
The present day Adam and Eve church takes its name from the Adam and Eve tavern on Cook Street where the Franciscans once held secret masses. Catholics posing as drinkers would be admitted by a guard on giving the password “I am going to the Adam and Eve”.
During the mid-19th Century, a Dublin publisher named John Nugent printed Old Moore’s Almanac in Cook Street. One of Nugent’s rivals referred to the almanac as ‘the Rushlight of Coffin Colony’. This was a reference to the fact that Cook Street was then the home of Dublin’s coffin makers.
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