Rock of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland
Date Visited: May 15, 2014
Time Spent: 1.5 hours, but the fog may have altered my sense of time
Collection: Celtic Art, Medieval Architecture, Cemetery
Website: http://www.cashel.ie/rock-of-cashel/
One cloudy, very Irish, mysterious morning, I decided to take a day trip to Blarney Castle. While on this tour, we had a stop at Rock of Cashel. Stupid me didn't actually read the itinerary so this monument ended up being quite the surprise. All of the photos on this post will continue to have the same ghosty feeling due to your typical Irish weather. I would actually suggest waiting for a day like this to visit as it adds that feeling of former residents popping up around the corner.
If you haven't heard about Rock of Cashel, don't fret, but definitely put it on your travel to do when visiting Ireland. Blarney gets most of the attention, so this was eerily quiet and abandoned. This must be why the tour company brings you here first... makes one feel like you're discovering something no one else has. Again... the fog may have helped with this mysterious discovery feeling, but I went all out with it because #adventure.
This is when it started to get #CreepyCool
While you're busy marvelling at the ruins, you get immediately rushed in to a small old building where you are shown a short informational video about the site. The basic in be was happy to be out of the rain, but I was a bit perturbed that they teased us with ruins like that right away and I was stuck inside (because I'm secretly 5 years old and want to run around castle ruins like every other person of sound mind on this planet). I don't know how I did it, but I survived and then the adventure was on!
There is actually quite the fun little myth about the ruins. According to Irish legend, Rock of Cashel originated in a mountain about 30 kilometres away called the Devil's Bit when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave. The devil too a bite out of this mountain, apparently broke his tooth and spit the rock all the way to where it is today. I now want to visit this Devil's Bit and see for myself what all powerful teeth marks look like.
Dare you to come back on a foggy night
On the site, you'll find a round tower, a chapel, cemetery, and cathedral. All are worth exploring. And while you're there, take in all the green that Ireland is so famous for.
What there wasn't time for (because tour buses actually suck, but sometimes they're the only way), was to walk around the actual town of Cashel. After escaping Dublin, you finally get a real feel for that typical Ireland you always see in travel books. Do yourself a favour and get out of the big city for a few days. Go get your explore on! Maybe you'll even find yourself a pot of gold.
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