•Set on a dramatic outcrop of limestone in the Golden Vale, the Rock of Cashel, iconic in its historic significance, possesses the most impressive cluster of medieval buildings in Ireland.
•Among the monuments to be found there is a round tower, a high cross, a Gothic cathedral, an abbey, the Hall of the Vicars Choral, a fifteenth-century Tower House, and the finest 12th-century Romanesque chapel in Ireland, home to the land’s oldest frescoes.
•The word ‘Cashel’ is an Anglicised version of the Irish word Caiseal, meaning ‘fortress’ (related to the English ‘castle’, from the Latin castellum).
•In 1101 the site was granted to the church and Cashel swiftly rose to prominence as one of the most significant centres of ecclesiastical power in the country.
•The Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland’s most spectacular and – deservedly – most visited tourist attractions.
