Virtual reality tour of round tower to be explored by council

The option of a virtual reality tour of the Clondalkin Round Tower at Brú Chronáin is set to be explored, to allow visitors see the inside of the iconic tower.

A proposal for the virtual reality tour was welcomed by councillors, after a motion which proposed building stairs to allow visitors to access inside the tower received lukewarm support at a previous council meeting.

Cllr William Carey brought a motion before the Clondalkin, Newcastle, Rathcoole, Saggart and Brittas Area Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 18, to “try and overcome” safety and practicality issues raised.

Cllr Eoin Ó Broin (SD) brought a motion to the May Area Committee meeting suggesting a mobile staircase to allow public access into the Clondalkin Round Tower, but it was not passed due to fears of “overuse” of the protected structure.

Noting Cllr Ó Broin’s previous suggestion, Cllr Carey said a virtual reality tour could be a “really good option for not only having a view of the area of Clondalkin that could be seen from the tower but also for people to access the inside of the tower and see it in a safe manner”.

In their response, South Dublin County Council said that while they have “no role in the management and maintenance of this structure,” they would make contact with the OPW “to explore this option”.

“It should be noted that the Round Tower at Brú Chrónáin is under the auspices of the Office of Public Works (OPW) and permission to explore this option would be a matter for them, the reply from Ralph McGarry, of the County Promotion Unit at the Council’s Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development Directorate said.

“The Round Tower is a protected structure and national monument, with the views to and from the tower integral to its protected status.”

He continued that “SDCC provides a dedicated mobile app that provides a multilingual audio tour of Brú Chrónáin Round Tower Visitor Centre” which is free to download in five different languages, and “complements the free in-person guided tours provided by the Clann Chrónáin tour guiding group”.

“The Council would be interested in exploring the option of developing a ‘virtual’ tour of the round tower in line with the virtual tours provided at the Council’s community centres,” he added.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme