Republic of Ireland - Pt 4

We drove on to Cashel in County Tipperary to see the Rock of Cashel, Ireland's most visited heritage site. It served as the seat of the kings of Munster (that being a large region of ancient Ireland), before being given to the Church. The site has a roofless Gothic cathedral, a Romanesque chapel, a vicar's choral (where the choir lived), and a fortified tower house. It is perched high on a rock overlooking the town of Cashel. The pics show the buildings on the Rock of Cashel, and the chapel interior.

Our next overnight stop was Kilkenny City on the River Nore, in the heart of rural Ireland. This 13th century former capital of Ireland is known as the Marble City because the local black limestone used in the buildings looks like slate-coloured marble. The pics show a view of the city and St Canice's Cathedral with its round tower.

Kilkenny Castle, the dominant feature of the city, dates back to Norman times. The pics show the castle and the River Nore.

We continued north into the Irish Midlands, with an overnight stop in Mullingar. We had dinner at the Greville Arms Hotel. The writer James Joyce used to go there (and was thrown out for drunken and disorderly behaviour). He mentions this hotel in his novel Ulysses, and in gratitude the hotel has a waxworks model of him in the bar.

From Mulingar we did a short drive to the small town of Castlepollard, where Don's Fagan ancestors came from. There are still many Fagans in the area. We visited the churches and cemeteries, where we found many Fagans who may or may not be related to Don. The pics show St Michael's Roman Catholic Church, where we found a monument to an Archbishop Fagan, and Celtic crosses in the Catholic cemetery.

Next update will cover Dublin.