Our driving days are always full of adventures along the way and Monday was no exception. The highlight of the "stops along the way" for this drive was the city of Cashel and more specifically the Rock of Cashel.
The history of Cashel can be traced back to the 4th century. The "Rock" is a outcropping of a land mass that is several hundred feet above the surrounding area. This is very similar to the areas in Edinburgh and Stirling, Scotland where their castles were built. The medieval buildings that remain on the rock today date back to the 12th century when the rock was gifted by the king to the church.
One of the amusing stories we heard dated back to the 5th century when the king at that time wanted to be baptized. As kings could do, he requested a special baptism by none other than St. Patrick. We're talking "The St. Patrick", the patron saint of Ireland and the one who is now celebrated with a big party every year.
According to history St. Patrick always carried a pastoral staff with him. The staff was decorated at the top and had a very sharp point on the bottom which St. Patrick would press into the ground to maintain his balance. During the baptism he stuck the sharp end into what he thought was the river bed, but unfortunately it was the kings foot. After the baptism when St. Patrick noticed all the blood he asked the king why he didn't say anything. The king replied he thought it was part of the ceremony!
We spent Monday night in the town of Kilkenny. After dropping off the suitcases in the hotel we headed out to make the most use of our time there and explored their "Medieval Mile". This is the historic section of town with the Kilkenny Castle at one end and St. Canice's Cathedral at the other end. At the risk of sounding somewhat like a broken record it was quaint, interesting and very historic. While we were walking we noticed that the local theater had a production that evening. When we asked the lady in the ticket window about it she said the play was titled Parade, that it was a musical and that it was very good. We weren't familiar with the play but learned it was about the murder of a young girl in Atlanta in 1913. I certainly don't want to make light of a tragic event but I have to admit that I was immediately intrigued by a play featuring a bunch of Irish men and women speaking with a Georgia accent.
We bought tickets, had a nice meal at a place call Matt the Millers and psyched ourselves up for a late night of local community theater Irish style. The story was interesting and I've attached a little bit of information about it below. The actors and their accents ranged from very good to "what the heck was that"? It was like a buffet of Irish people trying to sound southern. Not an easy task but they did it well. Maybe we can get a bunch of good folks from Georgia or other parts of the deep south to do an Irish play sometime. I think that would be quite entertaining and would pay to see that as well.
http://www.mattthemillers.com/
http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Little_Secrets
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| The Rock of Cashel |
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| Cathedral remains on the Rock of Cashel |
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| Kilkenny Castle |
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| The Black Abbey-Kilkenny |
