Castles, Cathedrals, and Caves

One of the few classes that is mandatory here is one that is held by Roberta on Tuesday nights at 8pm. We usually spend the majority of the time waiting for her to get organized and then we talk about whatever place we're going to visit next and if we're having any problems and yadda yadda yadda. It's more time consuming than helpful. Well last week, Bertski told us that we're going to have to give a presentation during the last week of class regarding the trips that we're going on, which I believe was mostly just an incentive to pay attention. Well my group and I signed up for the trip we went on last week and I was not disappointed at all.

The first item of business--Cahir (pronounced Car) Castle. Cahir is a relatively large town located in County Tipperary which is in the southwest part of the country, though it doesn't border the sea, it's still landlocked. Once again though, I don't really remember the ride there but the town of Cahir (from what we got to see of it) was really nice. I think what made it stand out the most was the giant castle that sat in the town center. I guess to an American who grew up in a town where the oldest building is from the 1800s, having a castle in the middle of mainstreet is sort of a big deal.

Cahir Castle was built in stages but the biggest influence was, of course, Norman architecture. It was finished in 1142 but was granted to the Butler family in 1375 for their loyalty to King Edward III. And what did the Butler family do to gain his trust? Why, they were butlers of course! Actually the Butler family crest has three chalices on it, which are meant to symbolize the cups that they filled during the coronations of three separate kings.
The most interesting part of the whole tour was the mass amounts of fortifications that were put into place to protect the family. The castle itself is built on top of a rocky surface which prevents a full fledged attack on the walls. Along with numerous gates and towers, all of which are protected with arrow loops (holes in the wall where archers could shoot from) and machicolations (giant holes over the gates where soldiers would throw down boiling water/animal fat on attackers), there were hundreds of small details that protected the keep. Within the home, sprial staircases with stumbling steps were used. This means stairs with different heights, widths, and lengths. In the dark, it would have been hard for an attacker to make it upstairs without falling. In the banquet hall there were was a murdering hole over the last escape route that the family could have used. This was a hole in the ceiling that, once again, soldiers could throw boiling water down. I feel like I would have felt pretty safe if I lived there.

Above is a machicolation over one of the gates to the inner castle. The castle was in fantastic condition and the only thing I regret was not being able to spend more time there.

We had lunch at this little place across the street that served food cafateria style. I had "bacon" (which was more like ham), mashed potatoes, a roasted potato, carrots, and squash. They like their root vegtables here. We even got to order dessert and I ordered cheesecake. It was Bailey's coffee flavoured and delicious. I'm not usually a fan of cheesecake but this one was fluffy and light. After that, we rushed back to the bus to head off to our next destination: The Rock of Cashel.

The Rock of Cashel was by far my favorite part of the journey. It's this giant structure built on top of a huge hill of rocks. While we were there they were doing construction on the site and so it took away from the overall affect, but afterward I looked up pictures of what it would have looked like without the scaffolding and it's amazing. So I'll put one of those pictures up along with mine.

Before the Norman invasion in 1169, it served as the seat of the kings of Munster but not many of the buildings from this time are still present. Saint Patrick also played a huge role here as it is said to be the place where he used the shamrock (a national symbol) to explain the holy trinity. Many of the local legends try to explain the odd hill made of rocks, one legend says that the hill (the Rock of Cashel) came from Devil's Bit, a mountain to the north, when Saint Patrick banished Satan from a cave. The fight that arose between the two resulted in the Rock landing where it resides right now.
After the 13th century the site was used mostly for religious purposes and it became a monastery of sorts. A giant cathedral was built next to the neighboring buildings and became the major part of the area. It is huge. Even though a lot of it is missing and it's fallen into disrepair, you can still imagine how great it must have once been. The reason for it falling into disrepair? The famine affected more than just people, it also affected their monuments. Also, shortly after the country was struck with that disaster a huge storm came through town and took out the rest of the building, parts of it still rest on site.



Above is part of the cathedral that blown away by the storm.

One of the coolest parts of the whole tour, besides the view, was the round tower. It's one of the oldest medieval towers left in Ireland and it was used as a getaway for monks during the Viking invasions. The entrance is a good 20 feet off the ground and a monk would sit inside the tower and alert the rest of the priests when vikings were attacking. The monks would gather up all the precious things that they stored in the monastery and cathedral and would climb up a rope ladder that the lookout would lower down. Once inside, the monks had enough rations that they could hide out for weeks until the vikings left. Moral of the story? Monks are awesome.

The best thing about the the Rock of Cashel is the connection it shares with Saint Patrick. There's all sorts of things dedicated to him throughout the site. One of the oldest is a cross that dates back to when he was still alive, so around the four or five hundreds. Local legend says that if you can wrap your arms around it and your fingers touch (wait for it...) you'll never have to go the dentist again. The dentist. Yeah...a little odd, but nonetheless cool. I gave it a try. Sorry mom and dad but I have short arms. Another legend says that if you can hop around the cross on one foot, nine times, clockwise without stumbling you'll be married within a year. I did not give that one a try. Too embarassing.

The Rock of Cashel, overall, is amazing. I wish I would have had more time to spend there (which is the catch phrase for this trip as a whole). It was magical. I know that sounds corny, but it truly was an awe-inspiring sight.

Roberta had to rush us onto the bus, but not before I got a picture with the ruins of Saint Mary's Convent that sits in the valley below the Rock of Cashel. It was pretty cool. A short bus ride later and we were at the Dunmore Caves. (Below is Saint Mary's.)

I don't know how else to describe the caves other than saying, at first glance, it just looks like a giant hole in the ground. But it's much more than that. During the viking raids on Ireland it was used as a hiding place for the women and children. This went terribly wrong, however, in 928 when upwards of 1,000 people were slaughtered during a raid. Irish legends and historical records tell of the massacre decades before anyone ever found any proof, but in 1973 the cave was excavated and the bones of women, children, and the elderly were unearthed. The ones that were hidden in cracks towards the entrance show signs of being stabbed to death while the ones that were hidden further back in the caverns only show signs of suffocation. The vikings, who were expert slave traders, were probably trying to smoke out the rest of the community before they realized that they were basically setting a death trap. There's still signs of the massacre. Hundreds of coins (which were not used among the Irish clans, only among the Vikings in Dublin) were found as well as Celtic jewelry, weapons, and other artifacts.
I can say that I was honestly a little spooked when we went inside. It might be due to the bats that were never seen but nonetheless scary to think about. But I think it also had to do with the fact that you were standing in an area where hundreds of innocent people were killed. As a cave, and not a tomb, the inside was incredible. It offered a truly remarkable array of stalactites and stalagmites which made me appreciate it a little more.

Above is one of the biggest stalagmites, known as Market Cross. Though, a lot of people say it looks like a hand holding a foaming Guiness.
This reminds me of a Walrus, though the tour guide didn't say anything about it being interpreted as one. Still, it's pretty cool.

Although the day was rushed and we were running late to pretty much everything, I enjoyed the trip. I learned a lot of things that made me appreciate the history of Ireland a little more. And I got to see some of the most epic views of the countryside thus far. As always, I was in awe of the fact that I was standing in a foreign country over 3,000 miles away from home. I can't complain though.

And fear not! There is more to come! I have been ridiculously busy so I'm going to try to update twice this week to make up for my lack of updating. And no worries, one of these updates will be regarding my trip today to Clonmacnoise and Trim Castle.