The Royal Sites of Ireland

From this serial nomination, I visited only Rock of Cashel as most of other travelers did. In 2007, we went by car from Dublin via Glendalough (another TWHS) and Kilkenny (famous pale ale!) towards the Southwest coast.

We did a short stop in Cashel, which is quite touristy place. My friends were not very enthusiastic with the ruins of the castle full of tourists, and preferred walking in green meadows around the Rock. Thus we split, and I bought the ticket and climbed the Rock, that is however not such a difficult task. The castle is just a ruin that can be found anywhere in Ireland and Britain, but I can admit that this place is kind of special. The obvious highlight is the Cormac Chapel with fine Romanesque details. After the visit, I joint my friends in the gothic ruins of Hore Abbey not far from the Rock. It was very good idea, because there are marvelous views towards the Rock (PHOTO), that were much enjoyable than those from the main road full of traffic.

The central parts of Ireland are rather boring as a landscape is flat with farms and cow all around. The Rock of Cashel was not such dramatic and monumental as I would have expected, but still it was very pleasant and refreshing visit. I am happy that the things have moved on, and the site will be nominated in very near future. Hopefully, I will visit more sites from this TWHS and …

Just 3 weeks after the St. Kilda failure, I went on my way to another Atlantic Island WHS: Skellig Michael. Months before I had booked a tour for Saturday the 17th of August, but already on Friday morning it was clear that boats would not sail either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday because of rough seas. So I tried to make the most of my time and have a closer look at the Irish Tentative List. The country so far has only 2 WHS. And although the island isn’t exactly dotted with highlights, there must be some more potential. My first stop was in the town of Cashel, where I visited one of the Royal Sites of Ireland also known as the Rock of Cashel.

The Royal Sites TWHS comprises 5 locations, mostly in the Dublin area. Cashel however lies about an hour north of Cork, where I had flown into. They were sacred sites and places of royal inauguration for the medieval kings of the Irish provinces. Cashel was the place of the kings of Munster. Like the others, it “is strongly linked to myth and legend and are associated with the transformation of Ireland from paganism to Christianity and Saint Patrick”: Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century.

The historical remains of Cashel lie on a prominent rocky outcrop, just above the modern town of the same name. The best views …

Before modern times and the English conquest, Ireland was never a unified country. It consisted of several individual kingdoms spread across the island. So the title "Royal Sites of Ireland" is a bit misleading. These are not the royal sites of the kingdom of Ireland, but of several of these Irish regional kingdoms.

During my Ireland trip I managed to visit both Cashel and Tara. Both are situated on hills overlooking the surrounding plains. As such, they offer a natural defensive positions and were natural choices to set up a castle and seat of government.

Tara is the older site, at least with regards to the remains. It consists of earthen mounds and forms, partially dating back to neolithic period. The Mound of the Hostages is the most significant structure. It's a passage grave and similar to nearby Newgrange. The site also houses an 11/12th century church.

While there is no evidence for an Irish high king ruling over the whole island, Tara was named as the ancient seat of the High King in the 11th century book Lebor Gabála Érenn. It has kept the reputation ever since. Personally, I am wondering if the local rulers didn't just make up the myth to bestow extra importance on their kingship.

Cashel is the younger site with most remains from after 11th century. The upside is that you have a tangible site to visit. Cashel covers the whole range of what you would associate …

The Rock of Cashel is an impressive site and should be protected. However, in the village of Cashel is the folk museum, covering many aspects of Irish history, however painful. I believe this too is worthy of consideration. I have visited it three times in the past 18 months, each time, improvements have been made and new artifacts added.

Located on a rocky outcrop in Southern Tipperary, Cashel is a nice place to stop on the way down to the South West. It sits up and dominates the landscape; it is pretty evident why this site was chosen for a fortification.

There are many sites like this in Ireland boasting remains of a castle, a round tower, a ruined cathedral and a high cross. Cashel is one of the more impressive sites in the country and is well worth the time to see if you are heading down to the South; it is on the Dublin - Cork bus route, providing an ideal break in the journey.

Whilst the remains are impressive, being one of the finest examples of Celtic art from the 12th-13th centuries, I'm not sure they would make it onto the list. Ireland does not seem as intent as other countries to use the list as a means to attract tourists and as such these sort of sites will not be promoted as they would elsewhere in the world. However I think this is a very impressive site and well worth a stop.