[Illustration: THE ROCK OF CASHEL, AS SEEN FROM THE SOUTH.]
To such of our readers as have not had the good fortune to see the
ancient metropolis of Munster, our prefixed illustration will, it is
hoped, give some general idea of the situation and grandeur of a group of
ruins, which on various accounts claim to rank as the most interesting in
the British islands. Ancient buildings of greater extent and higher
architectural splendour may indeed be found elsewhere; but in no other
spot in the empire can there be seen congregated together so many
structures of such different characters and uses, and of such separate
and remote ages; their imposing effect being strikingly heightened by the
singularity and grandeur of their situation, and the absence from about
them of any objects that might destroy the associations they are so well
calculated to excite. To give an adequate idea, however, of this
magnificent architectural assemblage, would require not one, but a series
of views, from its various surrounding sides. These we shall probably
furnish in the course of our future numbers; and in the mean time we may
state, that the buildings of which it is composed are the following:--
1st, An Ecclesiastical Round Tower, in perfect preservation.
2d, Cormac's Chapel, a small stone-roofed church, with two side-towers,
in the Norman style of the eleventh and twelfth centuries--also in good
preservation.
3d, A Cathedral, with nave, choir, and transepts, in the pointed style of
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, now in ruins, but which was
originally only second in extent and the magnificence of its architecture
to the cathedrals in our own metropolis.
4th, A strong Castle, which served as the palace of the Archbishops of
Cashel.
5th, The Vicar's Hall, and the mansions of the inferior ecclesiastical
officers of the Cathedral, which are also in ruins.
If, then, the reader will picture to himself such a group of buildings,
standing in solitary grandeur on a lofty, isolated, and on some sides
precipitous rock, in the midst of the green luxuriant plains of "the
Golden Vale," he may be able to form some idea of the various aspects of
sublimity and picturesqueness which it is so well calculated to assume,
and of the exciting interest it must necessarily create even in minds of
the lowest degree of intellectuality. Viewed from any point, it is,
indeed, such a scene as, once beheld, would impress itself on the memory
for ever.
It would appear from our ancient histories that the Rock of Cashel was
the site of the regal fortress of the Kings of Munster, from ages
anterior to the preaching of the gospel in Ireland; and it is stated in
the ancient lives of our patron Saint, that the monarch ├ćngus, the son of
Nathfraoich, was here converted, with his family, and the nobles of
Munster, by St Patrick in the fifth century. It would appear also from
the same authorities, that at this period there was a Pagan temple within
the fortress, which the Irish apostle destroyed; and though it is nowhere
distinctly stated, as far as we are able to discover, that a Christian
church was founded on its site in that age, the fact that it was so, may
fairly be inferred from the statement in the Tripartite Life of the
Saint, in which it is stated that no less than seventeen kings, descended
from ├ćngus and his brother Oilioll, being ordained monks, reigned at
Cashel, from the time of St Patrick to the reign of Cinngeoghan, who,
according to the Annals of Innisfallen, was deposed in the year 901,
Cormac MacCuilleanan being set up in his place. However this may be, it
can hardly admit of doubt that a church was erected, if not at that time,
at least some centuries afterwards, as appears from the existing round
tower, which is unquestionably of an age considerably anterior to any of
the other structures now remaining. It is said, indeed, and popularly
believed, that a cathedral church was erected here in the ninth century
by the King-Bishop Cormac MacCuilleanan; and if we had historical
authority for this supposition, we might conclude, with every
probability, that the round tower was of that age. But no such evidence
has been found, and Cashel is only noticed in our annals as a regal
residence of the Munster kings, till the beginning of the twelfth
century, when, at the year 1101, it is stated in the Annals of the Four
Masters, that "a convocation of the people of Leoth Mogha, or the
southern half of Ireland, was held at Cashel, at which Murtough O'Brien,
with the nobles of the laity and clergy, and O'Dunan, the illustrious
bishop and chief senior of Ireland, attended, and on which occasion
Murtough O'Brien made such an offering as king never made before him,
namely, Cashel of the Kings, which he bestowed on the devout, without the
intervention of a laic or an ecclesiastic, but for the use of the
religious of Ireland in general." The successor of this monarch, Cormac
MacCarthy, being deposed in 1127, as stated in the Annals of Innisfallen,
commenced the erection of the church, now popularly called "Cormac's
Chapel." He was, however, soon afterwards restored to his throne, and on
the completion of this church it was consecrated in 1134. This event is
recorded by all our ancient annalists in nearly the following words:--
"1134. The church built by Cormac MacCarthy at Cashel was consecrated
this year by the archbishop and bishops of Munster, at which ceremony the
nobility of Ireland, both clergy and laity, were present."
It can scarcely be doubted that this was the finest architectural work
hitherto erected in Ireland, but its proportions were small; and when, in
1152, the archbishopric of Munster was fixed at Cashel by Cardinal John
Paparo, the papal legate, it became necessary to provide a church of
greater amplitude. The present cathedral was in consequence erected by
Donald O'Brien, King of Limerick, and endowed with ample provisions in
lands, and the older church was converted into a chapel, or
chapter-house.
But though the present ruined cathedral claims this very early antiquity,
its existing architectural features chiefly belong to a later
age--namely, the commencement of the fifteenth century, when, as appears
from Wares's Antiquities, the cathedral was rebuilt by the archbishop,
Richard O'Hedian, or at least repaired, from a very ruinous condition in
which it then was. The Vicar's Hall, &c. was also erected by this
prelate; and it is not improbable that the castle was erected, or at
least re-edified, at the same period. It would appear, however, to have
been repaired as late as the sixteenth century, from the shields bearing
the arms of Fitzgerald and Butler, which are sculptured on it--prelates
of these names having governed the see in succession in the early half of
that century.
The interior of the cathedral is crowded with monuments of considerable
antiquity; and the tomb of Cormac MacCarthy is to be seen on one side of
the north porch, at the entrance to his chapel. It was opened above a
century since, and a pastoral staff, of exquisite beauty, and
corresponding in style with the ornaments of the chapel, was extracted
from it. It is now in the possession of Mr Petrie. The cemetery contains
no monument of any considerable age; but on the south side there is a
splendid but greatly dilapidated stone cross, which, there can be no
doubt, belongs to the twelfth century.
To give any detailed description of the architectural features of these
various edifices, would extend beyond the space prescribed by the limits
of our little Journal for a single paper; yet, as some description will
be expected of us, we shall briefly state a few particulars.
The round tower--the more ancient remain upon the Rock--is fifty-six feet
in circumference and ninety feet in height; it contains five stories, has
four apertures at top, and has its doorway twelve feet from the ground.
Cormac's Chapel consists of a nave and choir, but has neither transepts
nor lateral aisles. It is richly decorated in the Norman style of the
time, both exteriorly and interiorly; and the entire length of the
building is fifty-three feet. There are crypts between the arches of the
choir and nave and the stone roof; and there is a square tower on each
side of the building, at the junction of the nave and choir. Taken as a
whole, there is no specimen of its kind in the British empire so perfect
or curious.
The cathedral, as already stated, consists of a choir, nave, and
transepts, with a square tower in the centre. The greatest length, from
east to west, is about two hundred and ten feet, and the breadth in the
transepts is about a hundred and seventy feet. There are no side aisles,
and the windows are of the lancet form, usual in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. A century has not yet elapsed since this
magnificent pile was doomed to destruction, and that by one who should
have been its most zealous preserver. Archbishop Price, who succeeded to
this see in 1744, and died in 1752, not being able, as tradition states,
to drive in his carriage up the steep ascent to the church door, procured
an act of parliament to remove the cathedral from the Rock of Cashel into
the town, on which the roof was taken off for the value of the lead, and
the venerable pile was abandoned to ruin!
Of the remarkable historical events connected with these ruins, our space
will only permit us to state, that in 1495 the cathedral was burned by
Gerald, the eighth Earl of Kildare; for which act, being accused before
the king, his excuse was, that it was true, but that he would not have
done so but that he had supposed the archbishop was in it; and his
candour was rewarded with the chief governorship of Ireland!
In 1647, the cathedral--being filled with a vast number of persons, many
of whom were ecclesiastics, who had fled thither for refuge and
protection, a strong garrison having been placed in it by Lord Taafe--was
taken by storm by the Lord Inchiquin, with a considerable slaughter of
the garrison and citizens, including twenty ecclesiastics. It was again
taken by Cromwell in the year 1649.
In conclusion, we shall only remark, that the venerable group of ruins of
which we have attempted this slight sketch, considered as an object of
interest to pleasure tourists, and those of our own country in
particular, have not as yet been sufficiently appreciated; and that, as
Sir Walter Scott truly remarked, though the scenery of our lakes and
mountains may be rivalled in many parts of the sister islands, there is
nothing of their class, viewed as a whole, comparable in interest with
the ruins on the Rock of Cashel.