15 May ’05, Sunday The Rock of Cashel
Traveling Ireland and Great Britain is first of all, expensive, but the idea that I wanted to go with is, our travel time is short in-between the sites that we want to see. As what has become usual, we leave the campgrounds about 10 in the morning, and this gives us a chance to see 2 or 3 different locations before 5 in the evening. Today was a good example of that. We back-tracked east from yesterday for awhile, and then headed north to Carrick, grabbed a left (west) and headed to Cahir. In Cahir, we found the 12th century Cahir Castle. This is another of the many “Butler” family castles in Ireland. It seems that the Butlers lived in the castle until the “Potato Famine” of the 1800’s, and then moved into a much smaller “home”. Afterwards, they decided that living in a “regular” home had a lot of merits to it, especially the fact that living in the castle was one heck of a drafty place to live. It was once a very impressive “keep”, with a tower, and much more of its original defensive structure still standing strong today. The castle once was completely surrounded by the River Suir, and sat high on a rock island. Today, the river has changed course, but the castle still stands tall and proud with the river running on one side of it. After grabbing a treat and a cup of coffee, we headed north again and made our way to “The Rock of Cashel”, sitting on a hill, overlooking the village of Cashel. Now one of the pamphlets says this; “The Rock of Cashel with its dramatic silhouette of ecclesiastical medieval buildings rises steeply above the fertile plain of the River Suir, in the heart of the ancient province of Munster.” This was once a fortress and seat of the overkings dating back to the 4th and 5th century. It is said that St. Patrick baptized the grandsons of Conall Corc at Cashel. In 1101 the king of Cashel gave the Rock of Cashel to the Church. In the 13th century, the current cathedral started construction. In 1647, the cathedral and the fortress was sacked by Lord Inchiquin and underwent a lot of destruction. It wasn’t until 1749 that the site was completely abandoned and never again occupied… That is of course, until now, as it is occupied by the county of Tipperary for the enjoyment of the tourist industry. . Sitting below the castle, in a large green field, is the ruins of the Hore Abbey. Today, it makes for a great picture, but centuries ago, it must have been outstanding. It was time to move on, so off we went to our next destination and our next campground….Cork, or more directly, Blarney…
Traveling Ireland and Great Britain is first of all, expensive, but the idea that I wanted to go with is, our travel time is short in-between the sites that we want to see. As what has become usual, we leave the campgrounds about 10 in the morning, and this gives us a chance to see 2 or 3 different locations before 5 in the evening. Today was a good example of that. We back-tracked east from yesterday for awhile, and then headed north to Carrick, grabbed a left (west) and headed to Cahir. In Cahir, we found the 12th century Cahir Castle. This is another of the many “Butler” family castles in Ireland. It seems that the Butlers lived in the castle until the “Potato Famine” of the 1800’s, and then moved into a much smaller “home”. Afterwards, they decided that living in a “regular” home had a lot of merits to it, especially the fact that living in the castle was one heck of a drafty place to live. It was once a very impressive “keep”, with a tower, and much more of its original defensive structure still standing strong today. The castle once was completely surrounded by the River Suir, and sat high on a rock island. Today, the river has changed course, but the castle still stands tall and proud with the river running on one side of it. After grabbing a treat and a cup of coffee, we headed north again and made our way to “The Rock of Cashel”, sitting on a hill, overlooking the village of Cashel. Now one of the pamphlets says this; “The Rock of Cashel with its dramatic silhouette of ecclesiastical medieval buildings rises steeply above the fertile plain of the River Suir, in the heart of the ancient province of Munster.” This was once a fortress and seat of the overkings dating back to the 4th and 5th century. It is said that St. Patrick baptized the grandsons of Conall Corc at Cashel. In 1101 the king of Cashel gave the Rock of Cashel to the Church. In the 13th century, the current cathedral started construction. In 1647, the cathedral and the fortress was sacked by Lord Inchiquin and underwent a lot of destruction. It wasn’t until 1749 that the site was completely abandoned and never again occupied… That is of course, until now, as it is occupied by the county of Tipperary for the enjoyment of the tourist industry. . Sitting below the castle, in a large green field, is the ruins of the Hore Abbey. Today, it makes for a great picture, but centuries ago, it must have been outstanding. It was time to move on, so off we went to our next destination and our next campground….Cork, or more directly, Blarney…