Rock of Cashel's Cathedral

This 13th-century Gothic structure overshadows the other ruins. Entry is through a small porch facing the Hall of the Vicars Choral. The cathedral's western location is formed by the Archbishop's Residence, a 15th-century, four-storey castle that had its great hall built over the nave. Soaring above the centre of the cathedral is a huge, square tower with a turret on the southwestern corner.

Scattered throughout are monuments, panels from 16th-century altar tombs, and coats of arms. If you have binoculars, look for the numerous stone heads on capitals and corbels high above the ground.

On the northeastern corner of the cathedral is an 11th- or 12th-century round tower, the earliest building on the Rock of Cashel. It's 28m tall and the doorway is 3.5m above the ground - perhaps for structural rather than defensive reasons.