History of Inniskeen, County Monaghan

                                Inis Caoin was attacked and burned by Viking invaders in 789                                 AD. An impetus towards rebuilding with stone resulted in the                                 construction of a round tower as a combined belfry and refuge.                                 The entrance to the tower was set high above the ground and at                                 the sound of the alarm from the belfry above, those seeking                                 safely would mount rapidly, pulling their ladder up after them.

                                The twelfth century was a period of transition and change. The                                 three changes to effect Inis Caoin were:

         Round Tower

1.	The arrival of the new Augustinian order of monks to the new Saint Mary's Abbey at Louth
2.	The re-organising of the Church into dioceses with bishops, deaneries and parishes which began at the Synod of Rathbreasail, Co. Tipperary in 1111 AD and was completed at the Synod of Kells, Co. Meath in 1152 AD.
3.	Followed by the Anglo-Norman conquest in 1196AD