Sights in County Tipperary
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Rock of Cashel
The Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland's most spectacular archaeological sites. The 'Rock' is a prominent green hill, banded with limestone outcrops. It rises from a grassy plain on the edge of the town and bristles with ancient fortifications – the word 'cashel' is an anglicised version of the Irish word caiseal, meaning 'fortress'. Sturdy walls circle an enclosure that contains a complete round tower, a 13th century Gothic cathedral and the finest 12th-century Romanesque chapel in Ireland. For more than 1000 years the Rock of Cashel was a symbol of power and the seat of kings and churchmen who ruled over the region. In the 4th century the Rock of Cashel was chosen as a…
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Hore Abbey
Cashel throws in another bonus for the heritage lover. This is the formidable ruin of 13th-century Hore Abbey (also known as Hoare Abbey or St Mary's). Originally Benedictine and settled by monks from Glastonbury in England at the end of the 12th century, it later became a Cistercian house. Enjoyably gloomy, it was gifted to the order by a 13th-century archbishop who expelled the Benedictine monks after dreaming that they planned to murder him.
The abbey is just under 1km north of the Rock in flat farmland.
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Cormac's Chapel
If the Rock of Cashel boasted only Cormac's Chapel, it would still be an outstanding place. This compelling building dates from 1127 and the medieval integrity of its trans-European architec-ture survives. It was probably the first Romanesque church in Ireland. The style of the square towers that flank it to either side may reflect Germanic influences, but there are haunting simi-larities in its steep stone roof to the 'boat-hull' shape of older Irish buildings, such as the Gallarus Oratory in County Kerry and the beehive huts of the Dingle Peninsula. The true Romanesque splendour is in the detail of the exquisite doorway arches, the grand chancel arch and ribbed barrel…
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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…
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Hall of the Vicars Choral
The entrance to the Rock of Cashel is through this 15th-century building, once home to the male choristers who sang in the cathedral. It houses the ticket office. The exhibits in the adjoining undercroft include some very rare silverware, Bronze Age axes and St Patrick's Cross – an im-pressive, although eroded, 12th-century crutched cross with a crucifixion scene on one face and animals on the other. A replica stands outside in the castle courtyard. The kitchen and dining hall upstairs contain some period furniture, tapestries and paintings beneath a fine carved-oak roof and gallery. A 20-minute audiovisual presentation on the Rock's history runs every half hour. Showings…
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Brú Ború
The privately run heritage and cultural centre is next to the car park below the Rock of Cashel, and offers an absorbing insight into Irish traditional music, dance and song. The centre's main attraction, the Sounds of History exhibition, relates the story of Ireland and its music through imaginative audio displays; various other musical events take place in summer.
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Swiss Cottage
A pleasant river side path from behind the town car park meanders 2km south to Cahir Park and the thatched Swiss Cottage, surrounded by roses, lavender and honeysuckle. Built in 1810 as a retreat for Richard Butler, 12th Baron Caher, and his wife, it was designed by London architect John Nash, creator of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and London's Regent's Park. The cottage-orné style emerged during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England in response to the prevailing taste for the picturesque. Thatched roofs, natural wood and carved weatherboarding were characteristics and most examples were built as ornamental features on estates.
A lavish example of Regency…
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Mitchels Town Caves
While the Galtee Mountains are mainly sandstone, a narrow band of limestone along their southern side has given rise to the Mitchels town Caves . Superior to Kilkenny's Dunmore Cave and yet less developed for tourists, these caves are among the most extensive in the country with nearly 3km of passages and spectacular chambers full of textbook formations with names such as the Pipe Organ, Tower of Babel, House of Commons and Eagle's Wing. Tours take about 30 minutes. Year-round, the cave temperature remains a constant 12 ˚C, making it feel warm in winter and chilly in summer.
The caves are near Burncourt, 16km southwest of Cahir and signposted on the N8 to Mitchelstown…
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Ormond Castle
Carrick-on-Suir was once the property of the Butlers, the Earls of Ormond, who built Ormond Castle on the banks of the river in the 14th century. Anne Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII’s wives, may have been born here, though other castles also claim this worthy distinction, possibly hoping to boost their own sales of knick-knacks celebrating the beheaded. The Elizabethan mansion next to the castle was built by the 10th Earl of Ormond, Black Tom Butler, in long-term anticipation of a visit by his cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, who rather thoughtlessly never turned up.
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Castle
Cahir’s awesome castle is feudal fantasy in a big way. A river-island site with moat, rocky foundations, massive walls, turrets and towers, defences and dungeons are all there. This castle is one of Ireland’s largest. Founded by Conor O’Brien in 1142, it was passed to the Butler family in 1375. In 1599 it lost the arms race of its day when the Earl of Essex used cannons to shatter the walls, an event explained with a huge model.
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Main Guard
At the junction of Mitchell and Sarsfield Sts is the beautifully restored Main Guard, a Butler courthouse dating from 1675 and based on a design by Christopher Wren. The columned porticos are once again open (after renovations) and exhibits include the ubiquitous model of Clonmel as a walled 17th-century town.
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Holy Trinity Church
Fethard's Holy Trinity Church and churchyard lie within a captivating time warp. The church is right off Main St and is reached through a cast-iron gateway. Get the keys from the XL Stop & Shop (aka Whyte's) on Main St, 50m west of the gate.
The main part of the building dates from the 13th century, but its ancient walls have been blighted with mortar for weatherproofing. The handsome west tower was added later and has had its sturdy stonework uncovered. It looks more like a fortified tower house and has savage-looking finials on its corner turrets. The interior of the church has an aisled nave and a chancel of typical medieval style, but is sparsely furnished. A ruined…
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Cashel Folk Village
An engaging exhibition of old buildings, shopfronts and memorabilia from around the town. It's a bit slipshod in a heart-warming way.
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Bolton Library
A forbidding 1836 stone building houses a splendid 18th-century collection of books, maps and manuscripts from the dawn of printing onwards. There are works by writers from Chaucer to Swift.
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Roscrea Heritage Centre
The Roscrea Heritage Centre contains some interesting exhibitions, including one on the medieval monasteries of the midlands and another on early-20th-century farming life.
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South Tipperary County Museum
Informative displays on the history of County Tipperary from Neolithic times to the present are covered at this well-put-together museum, which also hosts changing exhibitions.
Near the museum, look for the life-size Frank Patterson Statue, which portrays the son of Clonmel and Ireland's 'Golden Tenor' in full-throated glory. If only it had sound. Among his long list of accomplishments was performing 'Danny Boy' in the Coen Brothers 1990 film Miller's Crossing.
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Round Tower
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 – per-haps for structural rather than defensive reasons.
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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 Arch-bishop'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.
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Other Medieval Sights
Fethard's main concentration of medieval remains (some of which have been incorporated into later buildings) are just south of the church at the end of Watergate St. Beside Castle Inn are the ruins of several fortified 17th-century tower houses. Just under the archway to the river bank and Watergate Bridge is a fine sheila-na-gig (a sexually explicit medieval depiction of a woman) embedded in the wall to your left. You can stroll along the river bank, provided the resident geese are feeling friendly. From here, the backs of the Abbey St houses, although much added to and knocked about in places, once again display the pleasing irregularities of typical medieval building…
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Franciscan Friary
West along Mitchell St (past the town hall with its statue commemorating the 1798 Rising) and south down Abbey St is the Franciscan friary. Inside, near the door, is a 1533 Butler tomb depicting a knight and his lady. There's some fine modern stained glass, especially in St Anthony's Chapel to the north.
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County Courthouse
South of Parnell St you'll spot the refurbished County Courthouse, designed by Richard Morrison in 1802. It was here that the Young Irelanders of 1848, including Thomas Francis Meagher, were tried and sentenced to transportation to Australia.
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Cashel Heritage Town Centre Museum
Located in the town hall next to the tourist office; displays include a scale model of Cashel in the 1640s.
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Cahir Castle
Cahir's awesome castle is feudal fantasy in a big way, with a river-island site with moat, rocky foundations, massive walls, turrets and towers, defences and dungeons. Founded by Conor O'Brien in 1142. this castle is one of Ireland's largest. It was passed to the Butler family in 1375. In 1599 it lost the arms race of its day when the Earl of Essex used cannons to shatter the walls, an event explained with a huge model.
The castle was surrendered to Cromwell in 1650 without a struggle; its future usefulness may have discouraged the usual Cromwellian 'deconstruction' – it is largely intact and still formidable. It was restored in the 1840s and again in the 1960s when it…
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