The Rock of Cashel

Our visit to the Rock of Cashel was one of our best ideas on our Ireland trip. It is located in Tipperary, which is the county above Cork. It was about an hours drive up there so it  made for a perfect day trip. Plus, if you are going to visit Ireland it is one of the top things to see while there. St. Patrick made the shamrock the famous here by using it to explain the trinity and the views of the Irish country side are spectacular. Looking up to the ruins reminded us of our trip to Lake Taal in the Philippines.
The Irish country side. 
Goofing around and getting my highland dancing on. I wore my green pants because we were in Ireland. 
The traditional Lyndon picture, standing a top a stone wall. I love the view. It was so beautiful. I love how green Ireland is. I guess it does pay off to rain so much to have it looking green year round. 

The Rock is famous for a lot of things. One is that it is the largest set of ecclesiastical ruins in Ireland. It is not a castle but a medieval abbey. 

 

We made it!



Cashel was the seat of the King's of Munster (must be where we get the name for Munster cheese) in the 5th century. Before that it was center of tribal and religious power for a thousand years. Then in 450 St. Patrick supposedly came here and baptized King Aengus making him Ireland's first Christian ruler. It is also said to be a site of druidic worship so has both royal and religious history. It is pretty cool to drive up to it. The Rock of Cashel is on a mountain above the town so you can see it off the distance driving up to it. It was an  awesome site to behold!

The picture to the right is a picture of the crossing. It is significant because it where the four sections of the rock come together. Also the detail on it is quite lovely. 
Tomb in the north transept. The tombs in that part of the Rock are especially detailed. This one is ornately decorated with images of the apostles. There were others with images of beasts and the apocalypse.



Inside the north transept. 

Cosette at the Rock of Cashel!

I had to include this picture because she is actually simling for the camera!!! It is a miracle! She does not look at the camera anymore. She will say cheese and look anyway but at the person with the camera. 



Me and my favorite little girl in the world! Cosette enjoyed the Rock of Cashel. 



 

There was some construction going on while we were there so we did not get to see Cormac's Chapel, which is sad because it is the best example of Hiberno-Romanesque architecture. Next time, I guess. 




View of the Cashel village. 

At the northern part of the Rock. The north transept is behind us. 


 
We explored some of the Vicar's Choral where the cathedral choristers lived. Cosette found a little window just her size. She ask me to take a picture of her with it.

Vicar's Choral, built in the 15th century. 


Selfie with St. Patrick's cross. It was put up in honor of St. Patrick's visit to Cashel in 450.

We had a blast exploring the Rock. Hopefully the constructions will be done by the spring so we can go back and see the Hiberno-Romanesque architecture we missed out on. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Traveling Half Way around the World

Image
We made it to Manila! We flew over the US and the Pacific Ocean to get here. Our total travel time was 55 hours. It was long but surprisingly not bad at all. Cosette was an angel and the Haneda Airport in Tokyo was like a hotel. If those two things had been any different attitude in writing would not be so positive. This odessy of a journey begun way before our first flight. Packing up our apartment for our subletters took a lot longer than we supposed it would. So instead of being refreshed and ready for the long trip over we were tried and I did not want to get out of bed. We got enough sleep to keep on going till our flight from NYC to San Fransicso where we tried to rest. That flight for me was the worst. Cosette did sleep but was up for a lot of it. The plane was cramped and Lyndon and I were seperated by the aile. Thankgoodness for kind and patient people who sat next to us. Playing at the San Fransico airport.   Our flight to Japan was awesome. We had a
Read more

Remote Learning Part 1

Image
Remote learning is over for now, thank goodness. We have been doing remote learning since March 20. We are experts at google classroom, zoom meetings, and google meets. It's been rough, but we did it!  This post is long and detailed about what each kid had to do everyday for school. It was intense. The kids did wonderfully. Their teachers are amazing! They worked around the clock to learn all the new technology, meeting with students individually. I received personal phone calls from them asking what they could do to help and also talking to my kids. I am so grateful for the teachers they had this year.  All three kids participated in remote learning. Each grade/teacher did something different. What they all had to do was answer and attendance question by noon, read for thirty minutes a day, and I-ready (an assessment program that helped determine where they were in math and reading).  Third Grade: Cosette's assignments were what she was doing in school. She completed two huge
Read more

Valentine's Day

Image
Happy Valentine's Day! This has become one of my favorite holidays in the last few years. This year especially I am really into it. It probably has to do with my sweet Lyndon who proposed to me on V-Day four years ago. Since then he has made Valentine's Day a fun and special day. He always surprises me with something fun. Usually we go eat some where fabulous and go see a ballet or opera. He likes to do something cultural on this speical day. This year I am getting into the spirit more. Cosette can do a lot more things. We made special Valentine's for our families and made yummy cookies. She kept sneaking cookie dough and eating it. She is my daughter.  The finished product waiting for Lyndon. I went to the Cake Boss Bakery last year to get Lyndon something for V-day and was inspired to make the dark chocolate bowls filled with chocolate covered strawberries. It was a lot easier that I anticipated. Oh, and that cloth on the table are the pajama pants
Read more