Sorry for the break in transmission. We are now safely back home but you still have a way to go, partly because I don’t normally post holidays in real time but also I’ve been hampered by being in places where the wifi required me to huddle under a tree and for most of the time we were on that site it was raining.

It was time to head eastwards and for once, avoid the outskirts of Limerick. We drove through Tipperary. It has indeed been a long way for us, 2193 miles since we left home. We arrived at Rock of Cashel, another of the guide book’s top ten, coming in at number nine. This meant the inevitable thirty strong queue for the toilets. I decided I could wait. It was just as well, as this meant we arrived just at the right time. A flash of my English Heritage life membership card and we were whisked through like VIPs to join the guided tour that had just started. Rock of Cashel was the seat of the kings of Munster from the fourth century until 1101, when it was given to the church. Brian Boru, later High King of Ireland,  was crowned here in the tenth century. On the site is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a defensive tower house, the hall of the Vicar’s Choral and a round tower.

We went into the Cathedral first. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built in the thirteenth century and replaced an earlier structure. The tower was added in the fourteenth century. It is a gothic, cruciform cathedral with an exceptionally short nave. Normally the nave is twice as long as the choir. Initially, the lack of space meant that they were built the same length but to make room for the tower house, the nave was shortened further to become just half the length of the choir. This was thought to make the cathedral unlucky.  The height of the lancet windows was reduced by a third when stained glass was installed. This was a money-saving exercise, as the glass was so costly. Following the Reformation, the Cathedral was Protestant but it was taken over as a Catholic Cathedral in 1641. The Earl of Inchiquin regained it for the Protestants in 1647. He arrived with 2500 soldiers to find 800 people taking refuge in the cathedral, guarded by just 300 soldiers; they were all massacred and the interior of the cathedral was destroyed. The building was abandoned in 1748 and some of the roof removed to avoid paying tax. Massive storm damage in 1848 led to further deterioration. Fragments of a thirteenth century wall painting survived because it had been plastered over after the Reformation. It was rediscovered when a builder accidentally knocked off some plaster.

There were spectacular views from the rock across, we were told, ten counties and we had clear blue skies; luckily the forecasters got today wrong. In a field below was Hore Abbey, also known as St Mary’s of the Rock. It was founded in the 1270s as a Benedictine Abbey but the Archbishop David MacCarwell evicted the Benedictines in favour of the Cistercians. The legend is that this was because he’d had a nightmare in which he was murdered by Benedictines. He was unpopular for spending money that was earmarked for the building of a hospital on the abbey.

Our precipitate arrival meant we had the magic green wristband that allowed us entry into Cormac’s Chapel. There was extensive restoration in 2009, in order to try to remove the moisture from the chapel and visitors are now limited because they tend to breathe, which was having a detrimental effect. Cormac’s Romanesque Chapel was built between 1127-1134 by Comac MacCarthaigh, King of Munster. It contains the first known spiral staircase in Ireland. Entrance is now via the back door under a tympanum depicting an animal that is probably meant to be the bull of St. Luke, despite it looking like a hippopotamus. The front door was blocked off by rival kings. There is a twelfth century sarcophagus inside that has Scandinavian style decoration. It was moved to the chapel from outside to preserve it; this involved removing a wall. There are also some remnants of frescoes from the 1170s, when Henry II visited Ireland and convened the Synod of Cashel. They were done by an artist who also decorated Henry II’s chapel in Normandy and they use expensive pigments including lapis lazuli from Afghanistan.

We looked in the Hall of the Vicar’s Choral, built in the 1420s by Archbishop O’Hedian. This has been styled as it would have been at the time, which means there has been heavy restoration and use of replicas, which is a shame.

There was a bit of a debate about whether we should move on to Kilkenny, which was a further thirty eight miles east and eighty five miles from our campsite but it was, after all, number three in the guidebook charts. We decided to go for it. On arrival we had to look for a car park, which was fairly easily found and very cheap. It did seem to be at the ‘wrong’ end of the city in quite a run down area. There had been signs to the Castle from 40km away but once in the city, could we see any? Of course not. You’d think you could see something like a castle from a way off but no. Fortunately, our instincts were correct and it wasn’t too far away.

Kilkenny Castle, on the banks of the River Nore, was a twelfth century fortress, built by William Marshal. For six centuries it was the home of the Butler family until, having already auction off most of the contents, the 6^th Marquis of Ormonde sold it to the people of Kilkenny for £50 in 1967. It is now maintained by the Office of Public Works.  It was extensively remodelled in the nineteenth century. Eighteenth to twentieth century exhibits from a wallpaper collection were on display. There were also seventeenth century tapestries based on a design by Reubens. Here we saw some more 10,000 year old Irish elk antlers. The animal stood at a height of seven feet. I was most impressed by the picture gallery, not for the art but for the elaborately painted ceiling. The gallery was built in the nineteenth century. We did manage to acquire the first ice cream of the holiday. It seems that most places have assumed that the ice cream eating season is over as we’ve seen many empty fridges.

I am willing to admit that perhaps we somehow missed the best bits but although interesting, I am not quite sure whose palm Kilkenny greased to warrant being number three in the guide book’s top ten. I will reveal my own top ten at the end and no one has greased my palm. I could be open to offers!