CASHEL, an inland city of Ireland, in the county of Tipperary, 108 miles south-west from Dublin, and within 5 miles of the Great Southern and Western Railway. The town, which lies at the base of the Rock of Cashel, consists for the most part of a wide and well-built main street, and contains several public buildings, such as a court-house, a market-house, a fever hospital, barracks, and an infirmary. There are also the new cathedral, the deanery house (once the bishop’s palace), and a Roman Catholic church, while immediately outside the town there is the union workhouse. Formerly an archiépiscopal see, Cashel was reduced in 1833 to a bishopric, but the bishop does not now reside there. The town’s revenue is derived from landed estates in the neighbourhood, the gift of Bishop Maurianus. It formerly returned one member to Parliament, but was disfranchised in 1870. Population in 1851, 4798, and in 1871, 4562....
The Rock of Cashel is the object of chief interest in the place. This elevation of limestone formation rises abruptly from the plain to a height of about 300 feet, and is a commanding object for many miles around. Its summit is occupied by the most interesting assemblage of ruins in Ireland, consisting of the remains of St Patrick’s Cathedral, a round tower, Cormack’s Chapel, and an ancient cross. The chapel, which is said to have been erected by King Cormack Μ‘Car thy in the 12th century, is considered to be the oldest stone edifice in the country. In its style it combines the high stone roof with the richest Norman decoration. The cathedral is cruciform in its design, and contains many interesting sculptures and tombs. In the adjoining cemetery there stands, on a rude pedestal, the “Cross of Cashel,” with an effigy of St Patrick sculptured on its side. The round tower, situated at the north-east angle of the cathedral, rises about 90 feet, with a circumference of 58 feet, and unlike the neighbouring ruins has been built not of the limestone of the “Rock” but of freestone.
The history of Cashel belongs to the early period of Irish chronology. A stronghold in the time of Brian Boroimhe it afterwards became noteworthy as the place where Henry II. received the homage of O’Brien, king of Limerick, and still later, where Edward Bruce held his Irish parliament. The cathedral was burnt in 1495 by the earl of Kildare. Two other interesting ruins exist at the base of the Rock, viz., Horn Abbey, founded in the 13th century, and the Dominican Priory, belonging to the same period.
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