Saint John's Tower, also called the Pigeon Tower, is a tower in

Castledermot Castledermot () is an inland town in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road (Ireland), N9 road from Dublin to Waterford previously passed through the villa ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland. A former

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

, it is all that remains of a medieval

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

hospital and is a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

Location

Saint John's Tower is located on the northern end of the Main Street,

History

The Priory and Hospital of

St John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

was founded by

Walter de Riddlesford Walter de Riddlesford (''fl.'' 1150 – d. 1226) was an Anglo-Norman lord who was granted in Ireland the baronies of Bray, County Wicklow and Kilkea, County Kildare between 1171 and 1176. De Riddlesford was born in Carriebenan, Kildare, Ireland ...

and his wife in 1210, just outside the Dublin gate of the

walled town The following cities have, or historically had, defensive walls. Africa Algeria * Algiers * Ghardaïa * Timimoun Egypt See List of Egypt castles, forts, fortifications and city walls. * Al-Fustat * Cairo * Damietta Ethiopia * Harar Libya *Apo ...

. It was occupied by the

Crutched Friars The Crutched Friars (also Crossed or Crouched Friars, cross-bearing brethren) were a Roman Catholic religious order in England and Ireland. Their name is derived from a staff they carried with them surmounted by a crucifix. There were several orde ...

(''Fratres Cruciferi'') until its dissolution in 1541.
A brief history of Castledermot
', Irish Walled Towns Network

References

{{reflist Christian bell towers National monuments in County Kildare Religion in County Kildare Towers in the Republic of Ireland