The Rock of Cashel: Where Brian Boru Was Crowned
Tipperary, Ireland
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Cormac's Chapel
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250
XP
1 day
The Rock of Cashel: Where Brian Boru Was Crowned
250 XP
Brian Boru was crowned on the Rock of Cashel in 977 and made it his capital, and in 1101 the King of Munster, Muirchertach Ua Briain, gave the fortress to the Church. The oldest and tallest building on it is the round tower, 28 metres high, from around 1100. Cormac's Chapel, begun in 1127 and consecrated in 1134, holds the only surviving Romanesque frescoes in Ireland, damaged by the waterlogged sandstone. The cathedral lost its roof in the 1730s on the orders of the Anglican archbishop Arthur Price. Below the rock stands Hore Abbey, given to the Cistercians around 1270 by Archbishop David Mac Cerbaill, who by tradition turned out the Benedictines after dreaming they meant to kill him.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Find the Romanesque frescoes in Cormac's Chapel, the only ones to survive in Ireland
2
of 4
Look up at the round tower, the oldest building on the Rock
3
of 4
Walk the roofless cathedral and find out who took its roof off in the 1730s
4
of 4
Walk down across the fields to Hore Abbey below the Rock
Find the Romanesque frescoes in Cormac's Chapel, the only ones to survive in Ireland
Look up at the round tower, the oldest building on the Rock
Walk the roofless cathedral and find out who took its roof off in the 1730s
Walk down across the fields to Hore Abbey below the Rock
Before you go
Cormac's Chapel is seen by guided tour only, with a limited number of tickets sold on the day at the Rock — ring ahead or get there early.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
Potential total
250 XP
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