|
| |
Hiking, Biking, Boating, Touring, Climbing,
Riding, Flying, Running,
and Exploring in HOME AT
FIRST's destinations.
Visit this page often to find new adventures!
ADVENTURE OF THE MONTH — FEBRUARY, 2006
 
— BRIAN
BORΪ'S CELTIC FORTRESS —
(2nd of a series)
HISTORY AND MYSTERY
The Rock of Cashel is great, and important,
and, without question, deserves inclusion on any list of major historical sites of
Ireland. But — no disrespect intended — the Rock of Cashel is not Ireland’s
Tower of London, its Great Pyramid, its Angkor Wat, its
Neuschwanstein Castle, or its Great Wall, although it has elements of all of these. Go to
the Rock of Cashel expecting something less than compelling architecture perfectly
preserved and presented. No. Go to the Rock of Cashel for its imperfections. They hint at
its mystery as much as its history by telling an incomplete story of ancient Ireland and
leaving much to your imagination. And in Ireland history — like life itself — is
very much left to individual interpretation.
ONE MILLENNIUM VISIBLE, ONE
MILLENNIUM IMAGINED
The Rock of Cashel is a collection of
structures built over many centuries atop a 200-foot-high limestone outcropping in
southern County Tipperary. Set amidst a fertile and not especially hilly landscape, the
Rock is easily seen from distance. There’s no mystery why it was chosen as a site for
a fortress. Stand at the base of the hill and the fortress above still appears
impregnable. Although most of the structures atop the Rock are medieval — dating not
earlier than 1100AD — archeologists believe the site has been fortified much longer.
One story tells us that the Rock of Cashel had long been the home castle of the Kings of
Munster, (along with Leinster, Connacht, and Ulster) one of the four kingdoms of Celtic
Ireland. Another tells us that Saint Patrick himself visited
the Rock of Cashel in the mid-5th century and converted King Aenghus of Munster, declaring
Cashel a bishopric of the Irish Church. A cross was erected atop the Rock 800 or more
years later to commemorate Patrick’s visit.
 BRIAN BORΪ, FIRST HIGH KING OF IRELAND
The Rock of Cashel has even stronger
associations with Ireland’s greatest secular leader. The great and daring warrior
prince, Brian Borϊ, was crowned King of Munster at Cashel in
977. Twenty-five years later, Brian, who united the four kingdoms of Ireland in common
cause against Viking invaders, was crowned first High King of Ireland. Although the Rock
served as Brian’s home fortress, but he maintained his
residence in his boyhood home, at Killaloe, the pretty County Clare town at the
southern end of Lough Derg. Sadly for Ireland, Brian Borϊ was killed by retreating
Vikings at the conclusion of the Battle of Clontarf near Dublin. Brian’s unified
Celts had effectively pushed the invaders out of Ireland, much like Saint Patrick had rid
the island of snakes 500 years earlier. A Heritage Centre (named after Brian) called Brϊ
Borϊ has been built at the base of the Rock of Cashel. It is devoted to Ireland’s
Celtic culture: music, dance, storytelling, and theatre.
BUILDING ITS HOUSE ON THE ROCK
 Meanwhile, back on the top of the
Rock, virtually everything you can see dates from 100 years or more after Brian Borϊ was
High King of Ireland. When Brian’s O’Brien clan descendants deeded the Rock of
Cashel to the church in 1101, a period of remarkable architectural change began,
converting the early medieval fortress to a high medieval ecclesiastical center and seat
of the archbishop. First to be built was the 90-foot high round tower, one of many of
these typical Celtic towers still standing in former religious sites throughout Ireland.
Soon afterwards, Cormac’s Chapel was built in Romanesque style and decorated with
some of Ireland’s finest medieval frescoes. A century later a much larger church, the
Cathedral, was added to the Rock. It is built in the shape of a cross with a prominent
central tower. One arm of the Cathedral ends in an impressive castle structure that served
to house residents of the Rock of Cashel. Ireland’s last Cistercian Abbey, Hore
Abbey, was erected in the flats of the Golden Vale below the Rock, close enough that the
fortified hill could offer the monks safe haven from invading marauders.
 TURMOIL AND TREACHERY
That this unusual complex combined architecture
that was partly religious and partly fortified is logical for Cashel, and for the Ireland
of the Middle Ages, a time when invaders — first Vikings, then Anglo-Normans —
and inter-clan warfare required that even the church protect itself with the strongest of
defenses. Ultimately, the Rock of Cashel succumbed to the unrest that continued to wash
across Ireland in 1647. Ironically, the final sacking of the great medieval
fortress/church came at the end of the turbulent Middle Ages, at the hands of Anglo-Irish
Protestants under the leadership of another of the O’Brien clan, the Earl of
Inchiquinn, surrogate of England’s Oliver Cromwell. The Rock of Cashel was destroyed,
and its Catholic clergy and nationalist Irish Confederate Army were killed by the same
family that had once built this greatest of Irish medieval fortress complexes.
VISITING THE ROCK TODAY
A visit to the Rock of Cashel today gives you a
sense of how life may have been during the Middle Ages in Ireland. The complex is still a
ruin, and the stone is as much worn by centuries of Irish gales as by Cromwell’s
Parliamentarian army. The Rock of Cashel draws crowds, too — not, perhaps like the
Blarney Stone or the Guinness Brewery — but enough so that on any fine weather day
you can expect lots of other visitors. Walking through the labyrinth of passages at Cashel
provides you with surprises: the life-size stone effigy of a knight, a colorful fresco, the
broad, green view of the Golden Vale from the ramparts of the castle or the Cathedral
tower. It becomes easy to imagine the Rock of Cashel to be something like and Irish
Camelot, an image not lost on filmmakers who have used the site as a movie set.
Location: Just west off the N8 at the northern entrance to Cashel town.
 Getting There: From Home At First’s Central Ireland
lodgings take the R498 southeast from Nenagh to Thurles, then the R660 south via Holy
Cross Abbey (itself worth a visit) to Cashel. Total drive time, less than 2 hours. From
Home At First’s eastern County Cork lodgings in Youghal, drive
north on the R634 to Lismore, then the R668 north up and over the wonderfully named
Knockmealdown Mountains to the N8 near Cahir, then the N8 north through Cashel. Total
drive time, less than 2 hours.
Opening Hours Daily:
Mid-March to Mid-June: 9AM-5:30PM; Mid-June
to Mid-September: 9AM-7:30PM; Mid-September to Mid-March: 9AM-4:30PM
Admission: €5/adult; €3.50/senior; €2/child; €11/family
|
— VISIT THE ROCK OF CASHEL —
as part of your next visit to Ireland.
This article comes from Home
At First's exclusive
"Ireland Activities Guide" that comes to you as part of your trip.
Learn all about HOME AT FIRST's travel programs to: IRELAND |
HOME AT FIRST offers travel to CENTRAL
IRELAND and three other great regions of Ireland.
Have your own cottage or apartment in COUNTY CORK (the south of
Ireland),
COUNTIES SLIGO & DONEGAL (northwestern Ireland), or
COUNTY ANTRIM (Northern Ireland).
Minimum rental is one week, and you can mix and match
with other HOME AT FIRST destinations:
SCOTLAND ENGLAND and WALES
— YOUR
DREAM TRIP BEGINS BY CONTACTING HOME AT FIRST —
|
