After visiting Cahir Castle, we made our way down the road to the Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel is one of the most popular sites in Ireland and has a long history. It was once the seat of the kings of Ireland, and it is the location where Saint Patrick preached. The legend says that he banished the devil from the caves near the rock. The Rock of Cashel is an early Christain site and contains medieval buildings. It includes the cathedral (and Romanesque doorway), round tower and Cormac's Chapel. Nearby and at the bottom of the rock (hill) is Hore Abbey.
The Rock of Cashel was the seat of Irish kings from the 4th century until 1101, when power was given to the church. St. Patrick preached at the Rock of Cashel in the 5th century. Although Cashel has ancient history, it was only documented since the 4th century. The cathedral actually replaces an earlier structure, and the buildings here date from the 15th century.
We had a look inside some of the buildings before wandering outside.
Some of the interiors contained original artwork, such as sculpture. Even more rare is evidence of painting that depicts religious scenery.
The cemetery is walled and does contain some high crosses.
In the distance and at the foot of the hill is Hore Abbey.
After exploring outside, we went to Cormac's Chapel. Cormac's Chapel is one of the most important religious chapels in Ireland. It was built in the mid-1100s. The plaster inside the chapel is being eroded away by environmental factors, so it is often closed off so that UV lights can be added in order to kill the harmful microbiological growths. Traces of the paint and plaster can be seen in the chapel, which is astonishing considering the age.
A replica of St. Patrick's cross, one of the high crosses of Ireland, stands in the entrance to the cathedral. The original is located inside, along with other artefacts. As mentioned, the cemerery contains other high crosses. There was one (pictured below) that was struck by lightning in 1976. The cross was one of the most impressive and dated from the mid-1800s.
There is a video of the history of the Rock of Cashel, but we did not get to see it. Unfortunately, the video is not shown in English until every two or three hours as they show it in other languages. I wish the other languages had shown English subtitles, at least. That way, we could have watched and understood it. So, we did leave without really understanding the importance of this site.
Our next stop was Hore Abbey, and the photograph of the Rock of Cashel above was taken from Hore Abbey. The other side of the Rock of Cashel was covered in scaffolding, sadly. This is a pity because the ruins are beautiful; I've seen photographs of them without the scaffolding.
Hore Abbey is located at the bottom of the hill from the Rock of Cashel. It is a Benedictine monestary, and it was founded in the early 1200s. The monestary changed religious factions; it was given to the Cistercians in the mid 1200s because the archbishop dreamed that the Benedictines were plotting to murder him. The structure dates from the 13th century.
We had to make our way through the muddy field, following the narrow stone pathway to the abbey ruins. Bits of this pathway were extremely dirty and muddy thanks to our bovine friends in the image above. A word of warning: there are cow patties, so do wear boots or shoes that you do not mind getting muddy. There was no way to avoid stepping through this, and walking around on the grass is much worse because of the wet patch further down the path. However, we'd had rain on the day we visited and a few days of rain prior to that.
The builders of the abbey would have also been responsible for building the cathedral at the Rock fo Cashel, and the same rock was used.
Glimpses of the Rock of Cashel could be seen at different angles from Hore Abbey.
I hope you have enjoyed these photographs of Hore Abbey and the Rock of Cashel. Come back again to see what else we got up to in the Ireland road trip.
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