Cormac's Chapel

Cormac's Chapel (1127-32), which is enclosed by the choir and south transept of the cathedral at the Rock of Cashel, is the most interesting Romanesque church in Ireland. The architecture and sculpture show the influence of German (probably Regensburg) and English masters, while preserving a distinctively Irish character (expressed, for example, in the steeply pitched stone roof and the corbelling of the barrel vaulting).

The transepts are like towers. The wall surfaces, externally and internally, are relieved by blind arcading and a variety of sculptural decoration. The old main doorway (north doorway: now facing the angle between the choir and south transept) is richly articulated and has a fine tympanum depicting a centaur hunting a lion with a bow and arrow. The chapel contains a 12th C. stone sarcophagus finely carved with Scandinavian-type ornament.