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There seems to be no concensus about when the Kilkenny tower was built, but the figures range from a completion date of around 700 to 1100 CE. It is the remnant of monastic structures on the site that date from the earliest days of Irish Christianity, around 500 CE.
The tower is in fine condition, although the conical roof is missing — apparently removed in a remodelling. Additionally, small gaps and out-croppings of stone on the inner surface in a spiral are all that remain of a stairway that used to be attached to the inner surface. This stairway was removed in recent years in concern for public safety.
The tower seems to have a very slight tilt, but is almost immaculate overall.
A hundred feet tall, the tower's diameter tapers from 15 feet at base, where the limestone walls are about 3 feet thick, to 11 feet at the top, where the wall thickness is about 2 ½ feet.
Tall, thin, and heavy. Excavations in the 1800's revealed that the foundation is only 2 feet deep. Two feet, and set into graveyard clay.
There are in fact graves underneath. These, with folks buried heads-eastward in the Christian fashion, are part of the evidence for earlier monastic activity.
The purpose of the round towers is a matter of question. Irish folk wisdom attributes their function to defense against Viking marauders; and indeed the Norse invasions of Ireland were contemporaneous with construction of the round towers. And it's true that monasteries were a repository of choice for great wealth — treasures, food - not to mention people (slaves/hostages.) They were primary targets for Viking plunder.
But the chimney-like aspect of the Irish round tower would seem to make it a poor refuge against any attack by fire. Its traditional wooden door, however high above ground, wouldn't be much defense against a flaming arrow, and even if not breached could fuel a mass death by suffocation — and for sacred texts a smoke-damage destruction.
Principally, most likely, the tower served as a belfry, used in the keeping of time. Notably, the Irish word for the round tower is cloigteach: "bell-house."