When I come out on the road of a morning,
when I have had a night's sleep and perhaps a breakfast,
and the sun lights a hill on the distance,
a hill I know I shall walk across an hour or two thence,
and it is green and silken to my eye,
and the clouds have begun their slow,
fat rolling journey across the sky,
no land in the world can inspire such love in a common man.
~ Frank Delaney, Ireland
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| It was a beautiful and inspiring morning, perfect for an adventure. |
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| Our route - large format so you can see our route. |
We had a free day. We had a driver. We had a plan.
We would start in Cashel where we would visit the "rock" and Hoare Abbey. Then we would head to Tobar Iosa, the little well of Jesus, a holy well on the way to the town of Cahir. Once in Cahir we planned to "drive by" Carrigeen Castle, a castellated building, once a jail, and now a home and B&B, and Cahir Castle. Then we would stop by St. Patrick's Well outside of Clonmel before making a final stop - the high cross at Killamery.
Are there other interesting spots we could visit in this area? Of course there are - Fethard with its city walls and Sheela na gigs, Mitchelstown Cave, Jerpoint Abbey, Thomastown, and more. But we were pacing ourselves. We would see other places on the next trip.
We found our driver, Ray Carroll, through an online tip page that discussed travel in Ireland. After communicating with him, buy email we committed to the drive. See more below.
The Rock of Cashel (our primary destination) *
It's a slog up the rock to see the series of monastic ruins built on the top (I even brought my trekking poles only to find that Ray was able to drive us to the top!). We were delighted to find we were were some of the first travelers to arrive and then we were fortunate to have Mary, an amazing OPW guide who was brilliant and provided a better understanding of Irish church and political history than I had before. We also got to see Cormac's Chapel and the choir.
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| I took more than a few shots from this perspective - before the tour buses arrived. I was attempting people-free shots with the birds flying out of the round tower. Birds didn't cooperate. |
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Yellow - 12th Century. Blue - 13th Century. Red - 15th Century.
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This 15th century tower was damaged (see the chunk in the grass?) and shows those "double walls" I mentioned. If you know me you know I didn't wander far.
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There are so many styles to be seen on the rock.
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| Hoare Abbey seen through an arrowslit. |
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Yes, we planned to walk the path down to the abbey.
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| Fascinating construction and challenging puzzle to fit everything in. |
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Amazing arches.
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| Many people (some large tour buses). |
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| "Wow!" |
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| Try to get there early and be nice to the OPW folks. |
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More arches.
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| Round Tower peeks into the 13th century cathedral. |
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| Apparently the cemetery is open, but only for people who are already on the list. There is only one elderly woman left on that list as of our visit. |
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| Early morning light. |
[In fall of '77 I was at the site alone - just the guard and me. I climbed stairs and wandered through the "double walls." Those opportunities disappeared with increasing numbers of tourists, reconstruction/stabilization, and insurance requirements. I was a happy mom to see locks on the stairwell gates when I brought the children in '97.]
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| Good spot for a busker! |
Hoare (also Hore) Abbey**
It is a bit of a walk, over a stile, across some fields, and down some loose ground before you get a choice. You can climb over a wall or follow the main road to a gate. We chose the gate.
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| The Abbey was founded by the Benedictines in 1266 A.D. They were expelled not long after and the Cistercians moved in. The lands associated with the abbey ended up in different hands - read the history, but know that some of the dates are conflicting. |
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| In '77 there were cows in the field by the most direct path. |
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| A diagram of the Abby |
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| The Abbey sits in the middle of a field. |
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In '77 a couple of older fellows were sitting up perhaps on the grassy angled spot on the left chatting. They were curious about what I was doing there and we chatted. It has been a few years.
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The rock seemed to hover over us as we made our way to the abbey.
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| You knew there would be a framed shot of Cashel. |
The rest of these photos show the remaining walls, ceiling, rooms, and a view or two out to the cemetery. It is amazing that something dating to 800 A.D. - especially the ceiling - is still standing.
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| Headstones beyond this arch. |
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| These walls were built to last. |
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| The ceiling in what was the sanctuary. |
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| A view enjoyed by the monks? |
Tobar Iosa***
Tobar Iosa translates from the Irish to Jesus Well. Some sources call it "the little well of Jesus." It is actually two wells, an upper and a lower well. The "pattern" is to walk five times around the well praying certain prayers and take three rocks from the upper well with you. When you intention is resolved you return with a piece of cloth or other item to hang on the tree.
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| Gate areas with instructions. |
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| It is a short walk to the wells. |
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| Brambles (blackberries) were beginning to ripen. |
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| The wells. |
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| The wells in the foreground with small "houses" or shrines behind - where people have placed statues, rosaries, and other items. |
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| Every holy well has its pattern or customary devotional. We did not wash our feet here as we planned to do so at St. Patrick's well. We also did not drink the water. I have seen too many wells with signs "DO NOT DRINK!" Of course, I might have my three rocks. |
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| I've heard these called many things. I prefer prayer bush or prayer tree. |
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| Another gate with a special cross. |
Carrigeen Castle****
I have had the good fortune to stay here twice. Some of the guest rooms are regular square rooms while others are the old cells - really. It is an interesting stay. I love the look of the place and the Monkey puzzle tree in front. [And I have just learned that this species is called "Monkey puzzle" because it would puzzle a monkey to climb.
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| It is an impressive place. Inside there is a spiral staircase...try brining up a suitcase. |
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| The Monkey Puzzle Tree. |
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| The borders are beautiful. |
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| I can only dream about this kind of a garden. |
Cahir Castle*****
Cahir Castle is in generally good shape. The reason for its condition, I have heard, is that through the years they have chosen to surrender or escape out the back when attacked. I do not know. It is a lovely castle with a well and towers, a murder hole and 2 cannonballs in the walls.
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| One cannonball can be seen just to the left of the arrow slit about halfway up. |
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| A Great Mullein growing on the castle grounds. |
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| Kudos to the OPW for leaving some wild areas for the pollinators and other wildlife. |
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| This is an impressive castle. |
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| An arrow slit. |
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| Yet another defensive opening. |
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| We saw the weir from one of the towers. |
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| A grey heron fed along the River Suir |
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| Furniture is not from this castle, but of the period - note the date at the top, 1606. |
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| Note the rectangular bottomless box above the door. It is another security device. You wouldn't want anyone to drop things from that height. And note the box is slightly off center from the door below to adjust for prevailing winds. |
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| Those are some teeth on that gate. It is the only working one of its kind in Ireland. |
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| Second of the two cannonballs imbedded in the castle walls. |
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| Seed the Wood Pidgeon. I do love these birds. |
St. Patrick's Well******
This is my favorite holy well. It is beautiful. There are stations along the rock wall, water flowing into a large pool and on to a stream. A small chapel sits at one end of the pool and I have seen wild orchids growing in the grass and watched hares in the field beyond the stone wall.
In the past I have seen one or two people show up for their morning prayers, but never the number of people "in the water" as on this visit. Perhaps it is the heat. I do not know. But a friend in Kilkenny advised that the "pattern" for this holy well is to put your feet in the well for two minutes. What could it hurt?
This well is from cold springs. Two minutes seemed an eternity, but we managed. We explored after that and a young man arrived and climbed into the pool. I suppose I will have to be satisfied with a "feet only" blessing.
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| I missed the gate there were so many cars parked along the lane. |
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| The well feeds this pool. A cross stands in the middle of the pool. |
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| One of the shrines to St. Patrick. |
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| One of the stations along the wall. |
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| The chapel now holds landscaping supplies and is locked. |
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| Another view of the pool. |
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| The stream beyond the pond. |
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| It is usually a peaceful spot...and so lovely. |
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| Inside the chapel. |
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| Supplies. |
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| The other end of the chapel still contains a shrine. |
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| A plaque noting the support of the Irish Americans in the work at the well. |
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| It is a beautifully designed place. |
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| Many leave rosaries at shrines. |
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| Time for a blessing. |
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| Time for a blessing. This water is cold. |
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| Upper part of the well. |
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| This sign gives some history of the site. |
Killamery High Cross*******
There are a number of ancient high crosses in County Kilkenny. The Killamery cross was the closest to our route so we decided to take a look if we could.
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This site is well marked from the major highway to the church. The lane leading to the site gets pretty rough by the time we reach the gate.
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A gate and a stile provide access to the site.
 | | The Killamery Church is a shell. |
 | | As we entered the cemetery we noted two high crosses. The lighter colored cross is seen here on the left the background circa 800 A.D. The other cross is more modern dated 1936 A.D. |
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| This cross was for Richard Downey. It is a type of headstone I have never seen, one where the identifying information is made from lead attached to the stone. I thought it worth noting. |
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I cropped it severely so the details would show. Apparently the use of lead on headstones is not unusual. Go figure. This stone says:
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
RICHARD DOWNEY
ROSSENANY
DIED 9TH MARCH 1936
AGED 82 YEARS. |
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| A lovely memorial for Sean O'Doinn. With our limited ability to translate the Irish, we could tell he was a well loved and respected fellow. |
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| We also found a memorial to the 1798 Rebellion dead, killed during and after the Carrigmaclear Battle and buried some 5 miles away in this graveyard. |
You never know what you will find in an old cemetery. But we came for the high cross and a few other ancient items. They were an interesting group with minimal information.
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| The Killamery High Cross |
According to Megalithic Ireland, this cross is known as the Snake-Dragon Cross due to the entwined snakes on the "arms" of the cross on the side facing in this photo and a dragon facing downward under the cap. Other carvings are explained in the article cited in the notes. It is dated around 800 A.D.
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| This is the reverse side of the cross - not the church in the background. [The church tower look in relatively good order from this side.] |
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| The cemetery also includes this inscribed cross slab and two Bullauns pictured below. |
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| Bullaun #1 |
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| Bullaun #2 |
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| I do not know if this is a broken third bullaun or something else. |
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An old metal cross.
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An unusual stone cross in the area of the high cross, stone slab, and bullauns.
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| The holy well seems abandoned. There is no water so any spring must have run dry. |
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| Many stone inscriptions are completely eroded. |
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| Many old graves encircle the high cross. |
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| A stile that went from the cemetery into a field. |
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| While the vegetation was suffering from the high temperatures and lack of rain, it was a lovely place. |
NOTES:
Note about finding a driver: Ray is perhaps the 4th or 5th driver I have hired in Ireland. I was looking for a local who might have some recommendation about the route, but I was not looking for a "guide."
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Cashel
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hore_Abbey
https://heritageireland.ie/unguided-sites/hore-cistercian-abbey/
*** tobar-iosa-jesuss-well-cahir-co-tipperary
https://www.cahirhistoricalsociety.com/curiosities04.html?i=1
**** https://www.carrigeencastle.com/
Monkey Puzzle Tree - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana
***** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahir_Castle
https://ireland-insider.com/cahir-castle-a-star-among-the-castles/
****** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_Well,_Clonmel
https://www.tippstudiesdigital.ie/items/show/6902
https://www.tuatha.ie/st-patricks-well/
****** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killamery_High_Cross
If interested in seeing ruins, holy wells, castles, round towers, stone circles, and the like I recommend using the Megalithic Ireland website [https://megalithicireland.com/]. It is brilliant and can be searched by type of structure as well as county/city
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