Rock of Cashel
The Rock of Cashel is an iconic historical site of ancient ruins in Ireland. It has the appearance of a medieval castle. It’s so stunning and just a really neat site to visit for its history, so don’t miss it! Even Queen Elizabeth ll visited the Rock of Cashel when she was in Ireland.
It contains Cormac’s Chapel, from the 12th century, which has the oldest, only surviving painted Roman frescoes in Ireland. This is the must see! A 12th century round tower, which is the oldest part of the building. It has St. Patrick’s cathedral, a 13th century Gothic cathedral, where the roof was removed. There is a 15th century tower house, which is an attached castle structure. You will also find the original cross of Saint Patrick in the Hall of the Vicars Choral displays, where you will see a short audiovisual presentation. This site has been a seat for the kings of Munster in the past. Apparently, Saint Patrick came here in the 5th century to perform a baptism for one of the kings.
You will also see medieval tombs and grave slabs. The most notable is the 12th century Urnes style stone sarcophagus located in Cormac’s chapel along the west wall. There are intertwined animal carvings on it. It’s thought to incase the brother of the chapel’s builder, Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh. Also, note Miler Magrath’s tomb inside of St. Patrick’s cathedral. He was an archbishop of Cashel who shifted allegiances between the Protestant and Catholic churches. There are ancient floor and wall grave markers from the 13th century. The date of the 1503 slab, marks the oldest surviving above ground memorial at the site. The outside grave sites are centuries of traditional crosses and headstones of Ireland. The burial rights here are limited to families on the historic register.
It can get busy here, since it’s one of the most visited sites in Ireland. So, parking can be difficult to get. Our tickets were for 1:00 p.m. and the parking lot was full, with about 10 cars circling for spots. We ended up leaving the lot and found parking in town, on the side streets. Then we decided to go eat lunch at a restaurant in town first, before entering.
Tip 💬: Early morning and late afternoon would be the best times to visit, if you want to avoid the crowds and get parking in the lot. Seemed like people were moving in and out pretty quickly though.
If you buy general admission tickets, it’s good for entry anytime during that day/date of the open hours. Last admission is at 4:45 p.m during peak season mid-March to mid-October. Last admission is earlier on off peak season.
You don’t need to buy tickets ahead of time. You can purchase them on site. If you would like, you can also purchase a general admission ticket online, up to one week in advance. That’s when the tickets get released. Many people just buy tickets/tours on site. We bought our ticket online one week in advance. We decided not to do the tours, but they are nice if you want more information!
Tip 💬: It’s faster to get in by purchasing tickets online in advance. However, lines move quickly here and there wasn’t a line when we arrived. We basically walked right in.
If you plan on going inside of Cormac’s Chapel, you will need to purchase a special guided tour ticket on site when you arrive. These are first come, first served. Tickets for this cannot be purchased online in advance. It’s a guided tour with specific color coded wrist bands and specific time slots that you have to be on time for. The timing of these slots are strict! So, if you miss your time, you won’t be guaranteed a spot for later, due to capacity limitations.
There are public restrooms located outside of the Rock of Cashel. They are at the base of it, near the main parking lot. There are no restrooms in the site, so make sure to go before you enter.
Tip 💬: Eat at one of the restaurants in town for lunch, if they’re open, and use their restroom before you visit the site. It will be less busy.
After our lunch, we entered at about 1:45 p.m. and it was less busy. There were also parking spots available at that time, but we stayed parked on the side street because it wasn’t much farther to walk. If you want to visit at a less busy time, avoid July and August, which are peak summer visiting times.
It’s a high hill to walk up to the Rock of Cashel and it’s not wheelchair accessible. The ground isn’t level, with dirt and stone paths to walk on inside. You can take as many photos or videos as you would like.
We spent about 1 hour here. You could spend more or less. Just depends on how much time you want to take, but one hour is sufficient to see everything. You will be there longer than one hour if you do the tour of Cormac’s Chapel. That takes an extra 30 minutes.
When we left the Rock of Cashel, we found a charming ice cream shop called Hansie’s Ice Cream located at the bottom of the hill as we entered back into the town. It was on the right side corner as you face the town. The sidewalk of the ice cream shop is very narrow and small, so watch out for fast moving cars! There we enjoyed delicious homemade ice cream before leaving 😋.
I definitely recommend seeing this ancient site! It’s worth the visit! It really is an interesting part of Irish history.