We had an early start this morning to catch a bus to catch the bus to the Rock of Cashel, about two hours away from Cork. While walking between connections, we stepped into the Red Bean Roastery, where Jeff got a chocolate muffin and I got a pain au chocolat for breakfast. We ate at the bus station, and actually made it in plenty of time, because the bus to Cashel was late. We finally boarded, and while the seats were a lot more comfortable than they have been on other buses, I felt like I was falling out of it. It could have been because they were padded vinyl, and I had on slick capris.
The bus stopped at three other towns before dropping us off at Cashel. We think this was a commuter bus because of the number of people getting on and off along the way. Perhaps they live in one city and work in another along the way to Dublin. In any case, we asked a lady waiting to board how to get to the Rock, and after winding our way through the crowd waiting to get on the bus, we followed what she said. Along the way through a residential area, we saw a cat that was very friendly. Jeff makes a habit of speaking to foreign kitties in an attempt at establishing diplomatic relations, and apparently, this cat spoke just enough English for his effort to be a success.
We found the Rock of Cashel — it’s pretty hard to miss — but decided to check out the bathrooms first after the long ride. While there, we liberally applied sunscreen to avoid adding to the sunburn fiasco.
We opted to get a guided tour of the grounds because we know next to nothing about Irish history. Nothing remains of the stronghold as it would have appeared in the time of the high kings of Ireland, but what is there is plenty old. Apparently, the Rock changed hands between two rival clans, the O’Briens and the McCarthys, during the Dark Ages. As the Catholic Church gained prominence in Ireland, King of Munster and Ireland gave the Rock to the Church. This insured that it could never fall into the hands of the the rival clan again. It is said St. Patrick visited there during his converting of the Irish clans and baptized the King himself. There are two different kinds of stone used on the various parts of the Rock. The gray stone of the cathedral is limestone, but the orangish stone of Cormac’s Chapel is sandstone. It is the newest structure (not quite a thousand years old), but because it is sandstone, it has suffered damage from the wet Irish climate. Restoration efforts began in 2009 and ended in 2017 when the preservationists did all they could to dry out the stone. Today, there are strict guidelines on how many people can enter the building for only 15 minutes out of every hour. We did not go in, for one because we needed to be back at the bus stop by 2, and for another, I didn’t want to be responsible for messing anything up in there. The views from the Rock were incredible. An abbey was just down in the field surrounding the Rock, and a graveyard with old and new graves were right inside the complex. There was a registry opened in the 1930s for people who wanted to be buried there. Now, only about ten names remain, and once those people are buried, no one else will ever be buried there. What was interesting was that the gravestones are all private property, so if something goes wrong, the Rock staff can’t touch them. We saw several stones that had fallen over through the years, and have nearly been covered with sod because the families of those people aren’t around anymore to care for them.
We left the Rock of Cashel and walked into town for lunch. We wanted pizza, but the shop wouldn’t be open until after our bus came, so we opted for burgers at The Brian Boru. I’ll be honest and say that I picked this place because it looked big enough to have a bathroom I could use before the bus ride back to Cork. The burgers they brought us were massive. The patties were every bit of two inches thick. They tasted very good, but it was all we could do to finish them. The restaurant is attached to a bar, and in the courtyard, an old advertisement fo Guinness attracted my attention because I felt like it went a little too far.
We caught the bus back to Cork in plenty of time, accompanied by an odd man who seemed agitated that the bus was running late and kept talking to himself. We were glad he got off at the next stop.
Back in Cork, we visited the St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral not too far from our hotel. It’s an Anglican church, which is not as common as Catholic churches in Ireland. It was a beautiful place with stained glass and intricate stone work throughout. Someone was playing the organ the whole time we were there, and when we got near it, Our ears rang at the volume.
Jeff knew I was tired, so he suggested we skip going out to eat tonight, and instead, after a nap, he would bring us a pizza back to the room. I whole-heartedly agreed. We will rest the rest of the evening, and catch the 9 o’clock bus to Kilkenny in the morning.
