April 28, 2011, Day 3: Cashel

We stayed overnight last night in a delightful B & B called Ashmore House. Olivia had stayed here in 2003 when she visited Ireland. The same people still owned the place, but the little poodle they had in 2003 had died a couple years ago. However, they now have another adorable little poodle by the name of Tipsy. She was cute, little, and a beggar as well (of course). She hung around the breakfast tables looking for a handout, and kept going from table to table. But her owner, Brendan, said she really just wanted the leftover butter, and wasn't really interested in anything else. Brendan clears the tables and collects any of the butter packets that have leftovers in them, then calls Tipsy into the kitchen to give her the treat!

The Rock of Cashel has a long history. We had an excellent guide for our tour, named James. He had a perfect Irish accent and he also spoke the Irish language as well. The Rock's claim to fame is it used to be the home of Brian Boru, who was once the King of the province Munster, who became the High King of the entire country. This was many hundreds of years ago. The Rock of Cashel is actually a huge rock that sits up high, and the view is great all the way around it.

 This rock was the seat of royalty from about the 5th century AD because of its prominence in the land. However, in 1101 AD, the king at that time deeded the rock to the church. It is speculated that the kings and royalty found it too uncomfortable to live there. None of the ruins here in these photos are from the 5th through the 12th centuries.

 The very first stone structure erected was the round tower, shortly after the king gave the rock to the church. Over the next 3 centuries, other structures were added. The largest is the Cathedral. There is also a Vicars building, and the archbishops quarters attached to the back of the Cathedral.

 The entire structure if full of stone carvings

 This is a replica of St. Patrick's cross. The original is indoors to preserve it. This is not a Celtic cross, it is in the fashion of a Roman cross.

Entrance to the Cathedral

A Celtic High Cross on a grave site

 The first building on the Rock, the round tower, c. 1101

 See the tiny face on this column? Our guide said there were about 100 of these all over the Cathedral. Some were believed to be important people of the day, or some of the carver's faces themselves.

This was one of the most fascinating of all structures. This is the inside of Cormac's Cathedral. It is the reason for the scaffolding you see in the top photo. The scaffolding holds a covering over the cathedral, and the interior is climate controlled in an effort to dry it out. They will be working on this for the next 3 to 4 years. The interior, at one time, had beautifully painted frescos on the ceilings and walls, from about the 12th century. They were done with very expensive paints. It is believed they were painted there to commemorate the visit of the King of England at that time. Some time later, the church was taken over by other religions, and because the paintings were "Catholic", they were painted over, many times. A few years ago, the paintings were discovered, and the deterioration was discovered as well, so efforts were made to preserve what they could. Restoration work is still in progress, but people are still allowed to go inside and take photos.

Hore Abbey. Monks lived here.

Just wanted to throw in a picture of the sky on our way from Cashel to Dublin. The weather has been absolutely fabulous! Praise be to God! And.....this is such a beautiful country!!