The word Cashel (Caiseal) means fortress in Irish. This was the seat of the kings of Munster (S. Ireland). They were converted to Christianity by St Patrick in the 5th c. In the 10th c. the O'Brien tribe occupied Munster: Brian Boru was crowned here in 977 as king of Munster then later became the high king of all Ireland. The Rock was given to the church in the 12th c. Cashel was looted and burned by Cromwell's troops in 1647 with its 3000 inhabitants murdered!! (It was to revenge the killings of Protestant English settlers in Ireland in 1641). The oldest part of the Rock is the Round Tower (from the 12th c.). It was where the monks took refuge in case of an attack. St Patrick's Cross, a Celtic Cross also dates from this time as well as Cormac's Romanesque Chapel. The Gothic Cathedral is from the 13th c. The Hall of the Vicars' Choral (15th c.) houses the exhibits of the Rock. After the Cromwellian massacre the church was used for a short period in the 1700s as a Protestant church... It has been deserted since.
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