Ireland Guide
Tipperary and Waterford
The Rock of Cashel
Website: www.heritageireland.ie
Opening time: Daily: mid-March to early June & mid-Sept to mid-Oct 9am–5.30pm; early June to mid-Sept 9am–7pm; mid-Oct to mid-March 9am–4.30pm; last admission 45min before closing
Price: €5.30; Heritage Card; mid-March to mid-Sept free 45min guided tours every hour on the half-hour
Viewed from afar, the Rock of Cashel is a captivating sight, a freak and solitary lump of limestone, reflecting the light in diverse ways throughout the day and topped by a collection of walls, towers, turrets and crenellations of Gormenghast proportions. It might seem heretical to suggest so, but this vista is actually the best thing about the Rock since, despite its staggering location and much-trumped billing, when you get there the site is actually far less atmospheric than other notable ecclesiastical complexes. Nonetheless, despite the swarms of coach-tour-borne tourists, there's plenty to see and much to marvel at.
The Rock is some ten minutes' walk uphill from Cashel town (or less from the signposted car park) and, once you've purchased your ticket, the first sight is the fifteenth-century Hall of the Vicars Choral, which once housed the choir charged with singing at the cathedral's services. Next door is the Dormitory of the Vicars Choral where a twenty-minute video, Strongholds of the Faith, is shown throughout the day.
Constructed on the site of the earlier establishment between 1230 and 1270, the huge Gothic cathedral is typically Anglo-Norman in form, with pointed arches and loftily set lancet windows. Abutting the cathedral's north transept, the Round Tower is the Rock's earliest building, dating from the turn of the twelfth century. It's nearly 30 metres high but cannot be climbed, so you'll have to make do with the fine views of the lush countryside around the Rock from ground level.