The Spire of Lloyd in Kells, Ireland is folly built 1791 and is regularly refereed to as “Ireland’s only inland lighthouse” which is situated some 40 KM from the coast. It was designed by architect Henry Aaron Baker and commissioned by Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective as a memorial to his father.
From the top there are views of the surrounding countryside as far as the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland on a clear day.The tower was used to view horse racing and the hunt in the nineteenth century. A plaque on the tower reads: This pillar was designed by Henry Aaron Baker Esq. architect was executed by Mr. Joseph Beck stone cutter Mr. Owen Mc Cabe head mason Mr. Bartle Reilly overseer Anno 1791.
The area around the tower has been developed as a community park, and includes a paupers’ grave, where Mass is still celebrated annually in memory of An Gorta Mór (the Irish Great Famine).
