Kilmacduagh is a monastic settlement just south of Galway and just inland from The Burren area.  It is a collection of ruins from the 11th century which includes a round tower, a cathedral, a temple, the abbot's house, and a few other church buildings.  The original site was founded by St. Coleman MacDuagh in the 7th century, but the buildings date only from the 11, 12, 13 and 14th centuries.  In the photo below Deanna stands in the remains of the cathedral which was built in the 11th century and the round tower was built in the 12th century.

The round towers served as bell towers as well as places of refuge.  The entrance to the tower is actually about 10 feet off the ground.  The monks would reach it using a ladder and then pull it in so any enemies could not get in.  There are many of these round towers all over Ireland, but few of them are still complete like this one at Kilamacduagh. 

Kilamacduagh was an interesting place to visit.  There were cows wandering about amongst all the ruins almost as if we were on private property.  No one else was there and we could wander around the grounds as we wished.  There were very old gravesites with gorgeous Celtic crosses and there were actually fairly new ones as well.  These were the first of many monastic ruins that we encountered in Ireland.