Cashel

(Local Name: Caiseal Mumhan) Cashel (Caiseal Mumhan, "Stone Fort of Munster") lies in southern Ireland on the N8. On all the roads which converge on Cashel over the plain the famous Rock of Cashel is a prominent landmark: a steep-sided crag to the north of the town, crowned by a magnificent group of ruins. These fine monuments of Ireland's past make Cashel one of the country's most-visited sites.

The rock was fortified by the kings of Munster as early as the fourth century. In 450 St Patrick baptized King Aengus here and made Cashel the see of a bishop, and a number of later kings were also bishops. The celebrated Brian Boru was crowned here, and in 977 made Cashel his principal seat. An O'Brien presented the Rock to the Church, and soon afterwards, in 1127, Bishop Cormac MacCarthy began the construction of Cormac's Chapel. In 1152 the bishopric became an archbishopric. After the Reformation Elizabeth I appointed Protestant archbishops.

The Cathedral, built in the 13th century, was damaged by fire in 1495 and again in 1647. After being restored in 1686 it was abandoned in 1749 and thereafter fell into decay. Finally in 1874 it was taken over by the State and declared a National Monument.