Cashel

Cashel, town and urban district, County Tipperary, southern Ireland, about 30 miles (50 km) east-southeast of Limerick. The town’s landscape is dominated by the 358-foot (109-metre) Rock of Cashel, a limestone outcrop on the summit of which is a group of ruins that includes remains of the town’s defenses, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (adjoined by a round tower and Cormac’s Chapel), the bishop’s castle, and an ancient cross. The rock was the stronghold of the kings of Munster from the 4th century. St. Patrick visited Cashel about 450 ce, baptized King Aenghus, and made Cashel into a bishopric. In 1101 the rock was granted to the church by King Murtagh O’Brien. Cormac’s Chapel was built between 1127 and 1134, and the cathedral was founded in 1169 and then replaced by the present building in the 13th century. Cashel also has a Georgian cathedral (1784), the seat of the Protestant bishop. Pop. (2006) 2,413; (2011) 2,275.