Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey

Following our short stay in Killarney, we made our way over to the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary.  Arguably one of the most popular tourist spots, it's also known as Cashel of the Kings or, more formally, St. Patrick's Rock.

It's reputedly the site where St. Patrick converted Aenghus, King of Munster, to Christianity in the 5th century.  The Rock of Cashel was also the seat of the High Kings of Munster before the Norman invasion, though there is little structural evidence left.  Most of the structures on the current site are from the 12th and 13th centuries after it was gifted to the Church in 1101 AD by Muirchertach O Briain, the King of Munster at the time.  In 1111 Cashel became the seat of an archbishop.

The oldest and tallest of the buildings on site is the round tower, (see above photo) standing at 90 ft (28 m), which was constructed shortly after Cashel was gifted to the Church.  It was constructed using the dry stone method, or stacking stones on each other without the use of mortar; for safety reasons modern conservationists have filled sections with mortar.  It's very well preserved and only the roof had to be rebuilt in the 19th century.

Cormac's Chapel, part of which you can see in this photo, was consecrated in 1134, likely for Benedictine monks.  This Romanesque-style chapel has a more sophisticated structure than many other Irish Romanesque churches of its time, which were usually more plain in appearance.  There are two square towers on the east end of the nave, which suggests Germanic influence.



Nearby are the ruins of Hore Abbey, a Cistercian monastery given to the Cistercians by Archbishop David McCarville around 1272.  It was never prosperous and by its dissolution around 1540 its annual income was only around £21.

A few years after its dissolution, the monastery was converted into a private housing complex.  The monastery was passed around by several different owners and is now the property of the earl of Mount Cashel.  Currently only the church and portions of the east range remain standing.

The ruins are now surrounded by fields and cattle and are open to the public.  We walked down the hill from the Rock of Cashel, but the entrance of the monastery is also accessible by car for free.



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