Cashel

Cashel , in County Tipperary, is home to one of Ireland's great historical sites - the Rock of Cashel, which was once the seat of the Kings of Munster. It was visited by St. Patrick in 450. He preached here at the royal fort and converted Aengus, King of Munster.

One story describes that while Patrick was baptising Aengus the spike of his crozier went through the King’s foot. Aengus bore with the painful wound in silence. At the end of the ceremony , Patrick noticed the wound and asked Aengus why he had not spoken up. Aengus replied that he thought it was part of the ceremony!

Brian Boru was crowned King of Ireland here in the tenth century. During the twelfth century, the Rock became the seat of the archbishop and it was at this time that Cormac's Chapel (below) was built.

In 1647 the Rock was ransacked by Cromwell's forces. Today the impressive stone walls enclose a round tower, the cathedral, a twelfth century romanesque chapel, high crosses and other structures.

The gothic cathedral dates back to the thirteenth century.

At the entrance to the Rock is a fifteenth century house which has been recently restored which holds a museum with a number of interesting exhibits, including silverware and St. Patrick's Cross.

 

Amidst all this history, the little girls kept themselves amused by tending to their imaginary dragon pets.

Back in town we enjoyed lunch at a fabulous pub and saw a few of the local sites - the St. John the Baptist Church and the visitor's centre where we got to view these ancient vellum scrolls: