Page 202 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

200  IRELAND REGION B Y REGION

Rock of Cashel

This rocky stronghold, which rises dramatically out of the Tipperary plain, was a symbol
of royal and priestly power for more than a millennium. From the 4th or 5th century it
was the seat of the Kings of Munster, whose kingdom extended over much of southern
Ireland. In 1101, they handed Cashel over to the Church, and it flourished as a religious
centre until a siege by a Cromwellian army in 1647 culminated in the massacre of its
3,000 occupants. The cathedral, which is subject to ongoing renovation, was finally
abandoned in the late 18th century. A good proportion of the medieval complex is
still standing, and Cormac’s Chapel is one of the most outstanding examples of
Romanesque architecture in the country.

. St Patrick’s Cross
Hall of the The carving on the east face
Vicars’ Choral of this cross is said to be of
This hall was built in St Patrick, who visited Cashel in
the 15th century for 450. The cross is a copy of
Cashel’s most privi leged the original which
choristers. The ceiling, a stood here until
modern reconstruction 1982 and is now
based on medieval in the museum.
designs, features
several decorative
corbels including this
painted angel.

Entrance

KEY
1 Limestone rock
2 Outer wall
3 The Museum in the under-
croft contains a display of stone
carvings, including the original
St Patrick’s Cross.
4 Dormitory block
5 Crossing
6 Round tower
7 The Choir contains the
17th-century tomb of Miler Magrath,
who caused a scandal by being both
a Protestant and Catholic archbishop
at the same time.
8 Graveyard
9 The O’Scully Monument, an . Cormac’s Chapel
ornate memorial erected in 1870 Superb Romanesque carving adorns this
by a local landowning family, was chapel – the jewel of Cashel. The tympanum
dam aged during a storm in 1976. over the north door shows a centaur in a
helmet aiming his bow and arrow at a lion.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp299–300 and pp316–18

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