After our surprisingly amazing trip to St. Berrihert’s Well and to see my first ancient Irish High Cross, it was on to Cashel. Cashel is really cute as a town. There’s pretty much just one main street – it did surprise me that the town has remained so small. The wonderful Husband is fully aware of my love of nice hotels (with big, fluffy towels, nice bath products, cushy beds), found the perfect place, Bailey’s Hotel https://www.baileyshotelcashel.com . The building dates from 1709 – which, of course, makes me happy. Nice breakfast too.
We spent the afternoon just strolling around the town, having tea and cake (should be its own food group) and enjoying the atmosphere. There are a couple of ruined monasteries right in town, along with many other building of interest. One church that really captured our attention was the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Absolutely gorgeous. As always, I lit candles for our family and friends and for our crazy adventure.
A bit more exploring and then it was time to get ready for dinner and the show. The Mother had arranged for tickets to Bru Boru. The theater is at the foot of the Rock and is a delight. There is a history of music in Ireland downstairs with some beautiful reproductions of ancient musical instruments. Dinner at the theater was enjoyable – but, the show.. the show was fantastic! Many of the musicians and dancers featured here over the years have gone on to join Riverdance. The night was a mixture of singing, Irish dance, humor, random musical moments, incredible skills with various musical instruments – followed after the show with additional time with the performers in the bar area. They would sing songs at request and some audience members performed as well. Definitely up past our bedtime, but so worth it. Highly recommend the experience.
The next morning we headed up to the Rock. It’s a relatively easy walk from most anywhere in town (although you do walk uphill…which should be expected…). The Mother and I visited Cormac’s Chapel first, also called the Golden Chapel, as it is made from golden sandstone. It’s called Cormac’s Chapel after the Irish High King who commissioned it. It was completed in 1134 and is relatively untouched since that time. Even during the time of the Reformation, the importance of this chapel, as is, was understood and it was left unscathed. It is one of the few examples of the Romanesque (as in Roman, right?) design. Simple and stunning.
We were fortunate to have an excellent guide to show us around – and (bonus!) the tickets to the Rock were included with our rooms! Got to like that.
After leaving Cashel we headed to Cahir at the recommendation of the excellent Leo, property manager extraordinaire. The town is cute, although we didn’t get around it much. We were expecting a castle, and boy, did we get one!
When Oliver Cromwell showed up to take the castle after the dissolution of the British monarchy (didn’t know that? I won’t go into it as I tend to get rather passionate about the subject- and those who know, know that I have very strong feelings regarding Mr. Cromwell and his destruction of history), he gave the Butler family (this was their castle) the option to leave quickly and peacefully with their possessions, or he would blow the castle down. The Butlers chose to leave quickly and peacefully, therefore, the castle is still remarkably intact.
A lovely stop. I’m so glad Leo mentioned it!
I wish I had photos of the drive back, but the official photographer for the group was exiled to the back seat so the Daughter could sit up front. Google maps (which we have named Dana) thought we should have a…creative…trip home. It was beautiful. Trees creating covers for the roads, tiny villages in the middle of nowhere. Blind corners with large trucks coming the other way over the center line. Indeed, a grand adventure had by all!