Travel Journal April 12, 1999
The Rock and the Mountain.

Cashel

Another bitterly cold, windy day. My plan for today was to visit the Rock of Cashel.

Here's a shot of the rock.

The interior of one of the outer buildings has been recreated in something like it's original state. Here's the kitchen, which is above the museum.

 

And in the next room is the choir room.

 

Some pictures of the cathedral. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing very hard, and was very cold, so I didn't stay out very long.

   

The zig-zag pattern on this arch are typical of this period.

From the inside of the cathedral, which has no roof.

You can see nearby the ruins of a Cistercian monastary.

Because of the weather, I really wasn't in much of a mood to appreciate Cashel - it's hard to contemplate the significance of ancient stonework when you are in serious danger of being blown off your feet by the wind. Fortunately, the weather got a teeny bit warmer in the afternoon.

Next, I did a little bit of backtracking, because the previous day I had noticed a sign indicating a road towards Slievenamon. Here's what Mike Jittlov's Guide to Ireland has to say about the place:

Slieve-Na-Mon - 2364', 6 miles SE of Fethard (10 NE of Clonmel), SE County Tipperary; "Mountain of the Women" and legendary home of the Leprechauns (featured in Disney's movie), mysterious cairn on summit (rockpile with a "door"!); 3 hour (roundtrip) hike is high, breezy, sometimes foggy (take a compass in case), always a wonderful adventure, magnificent views (can easily walk above the rolling cloudline)

I decided this was worth investigating. Here's a picture of the mountain from a distance.

Here's the start of the walking trail. Driving will only get you about 1/3 of the way up.

About half-way up the mountain, and the view is just absolutely incredible.

A little further up. My limbs are aching, but I persevere.

  

Some sort of small stone outbuilding near the top.

Almost at the very top.

 

The rockpile mentioned by Jittlov. It does sort of look like a door.

Another view of the Irish countryside, from the top.

A couple of markers at the top of the summit.

 

One more picture of the fabulous view.

I have to admit, I'm not much of a mountain hiker, going up was a severe physical trial for me, but by going slowly I managed to do it. Going down was a bit of a problem, since my hip and knee joints started to ache, but at least it didn't take quite so long. By the time I got to the bottom, I had stripped off all my coats and jackets, and was wearing just my T-shirt on top, which I why I think that instead of "Slieve-na-mon", the mountain should really be named "man-no-sleeve"!

Afterwards, I drove to Cork and found a place to rest for the night.