Henry O’Brien (1807-1835) was an Irishman born in Co. Kerry who only lived a short twenty-eight years. In 1830 the Royal Irish Academy sponsored a competition for the most appropriate essay, which explained the origin and purpose of Ireland’s Round Towers. The winner’s prize went to George Petrie. O’Brien’s thesis was considered too radical and so, controversially, O’Brien was only awarded a consolation prize of £20.

His work was published in 1834^[124] and republished in more recent years with new but totally misleading titles that imply that the author linked Ireland with Atlantis^[125][126]. The book has nothing to do with Atlantis or Plato but is an attempt to attribute the building of the famous Round Towers of Ireland to the Tuatha de Danaan who invaded Ireland in the distant mists of time and whom O’Brien contended came originally from Persia. The book is written in the turgid style of the period and today would not be considered an ‘easy read’.