Rock of Cashel

Coordinates: 52°31′12″N 7°53′24″W / 52.52000°N 7.89000°W / 52.52000; -7.89000
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Rock of Cashel
Carraig Phádraig
Rock of Cashel is located in island of Ireland
Rock of Cashel
Location of Rock of Cashel in Ireland
LocationCashel, County Tipperary, Ireland
Coordinates52°31′12″N 7°53′24″W / 52.52000°N 7.89000°W / 52.52000; -7.89000
History
FoundedFrom 12th century
Site notes
Websiteheritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/rock-of-cashel/
Reference no.128

The Rock of Cashel (Irish: Carraig Phádraig [ˈcaɾˠəɟ ˈfˠaːd̪ˠɾˠəɟ]), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock, is a historical site located at Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland.

History

Aerial view c. 1970, prior modern reconstruction

According to local legends, the Rock of Cashel originated in the Devil's Bit, a mountain 20 miles (30 km) north of Cashel when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock's landing in Cashel.[1] Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by Saint Patrick in the 5th century.

The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the

Church
. The picturesque complex has a character of its own and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe.[2] Few remnants of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Buildings on the Rock

Cormac's Chapel

Cormac’s chapel with parts of the Cathedral on either side
Carvings and frescoes inside the chapel

Cormac's Chapel, the chapel of King

barrel-vaulted roof, a carved tympanum over both doorways, the magnificent north doorway and chancel arch and the oldest stairs in Ireland. It contains the only surviving Romanesque frescoes in Ireland.[3]
The chapel was constructed primarily of sandstone which has become waterlogged over the centuries, significantly damaging the interior frescoes. Restoration and preservation required the chapel be completely enclosed in a rain-proof structure with interior dehumidifiers to dry out the stone. It is now open for limited tours to the public.

Cathedral

The Hall of the Vicar’s Choral inside the Cathedral
A roofless portion of the cathedral

The cathedral, built between 1235 and 1270, is an

seal. This was later reduced to five honorary vicars choral who appointed singing-men as their deputies, a practice which continued until 1836. The restoration of the Hall was undertaken by the Office of Public Works as a project in connection with the European Architectural Heritage Year, 1975. Through it visitors now enter the site.[1]

In 1647, during the Irish Confederate Wars, Cashel was sacked by English Parliamentarian troops under Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin. The Irish Confederate troops there were massacred, as were the Catholic clergy, including Theobald Stapleton. Inchiquin's troops looted or destroyed many important religious artefacts.[2]

Sometime during or after the mid-1730s, the main cathedral roof was destroyed by

Arthur Price, the Anglican Archbishop of Cashel.[1] Today, what remains of the Rock of Cashel has become a tourist attraction. Price's decision to remove the roof on what had been called the jewel among Irish church buildings was criticised before and since.[4]

Queen Elizabeth II visited the Rock of Cashel during her 2011 visit to Ireland.[5]

The Round Tower

The Round Tower beside the cathedral

The oldest and tallest of the structure is the well preserved round tower 28 metres (92 ft) high, dating from c.1100. Its entrance is 3.7 metres (12 ft) from the ground, necessitated by a shallow foundation (about 1 metre (3 feet) typical of round towers. The tower was built using the dry stone method. Modern conservationists have filled in some of the tower with mortar for safety reasons.

Other features

View of the site
Graves on the northern side of the ruins

The entire plateau on which the buildings and graveyard lie is walled. In the grounds around the buildings an extensive graveyard includes a number of high crosses. Scully's Cross, one of the largest and most famous high crosses here, originally constructed in 1860 to commemorate the Scully family, was destroyed in 1976 when lightning struck a metal rod that ran the length of the cross. The remains of the top of the cross now lie at the base of the cross adjacent to the rock wall.

Burials

  • Malcolm Hamilton (archbishop)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Seymour, John (1907). Records of the past. Vol. 6. Records of the Past Exploration Society. pp. 259–263.
  2. ^ a b c Howitt, William (1864). Ruined abbeys and castles of Great Britain. Vol. 2. A.W. Bennett. pp. 159–161.
  3. ^ "The Rock of Cashel | Heritage Ireland".
  4. ^ Rev. John Healy, LL.D, (Anglican Rector of Kells & Canon of St Patrick's, Dublin) History of the Diocese of Meath: Vol. II. (Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge; 1908) p. 93.
  5. ^ The Queen in Ireland: day four as it happened Archived 28 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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