A Tale of Two Castles in Cashel

Day Five

This day we have a good look at the Rock of Cashel and fill out some of the details of the area, and muse on connections.  I was not comfortable at first about asking people about the Butlers or my distant cousins with the last name of Philips.  Steve however is not shy.  The first person he stopped on the street to ask directions to our B&B was greeted with his statement, while he pointed at me, "She had a grandfather who was born here by the name of Butler and we are looking into family ties." The nice man put his hands up in feigned protest and joked, "Look, you have to know there is no money here!"  Hilarious.

He confirmed there were lots of Butlers here, and in Tipperary in general, and Philips too.  Again at the B& B Steve told the owner Brid O'Brien of our "search" and she remembered a Philips that had recently died at a ripe age, after being a contractor and a rugby player.  Random musings on common names.  It has become clear that whatever happens in my "hunt" (as Tom O'Brien the other  B&B owner called it) I am walking the landscapes of my ancestors for sure, the churches, the streets, and the vistas would have been imprinted in their psyches and I can at least have this connection.

We headed up on foot to the top of the Rock of Cashel.  Sheep grazing the hills, jackdaws in huge numbers wheeling around the tops of the ruin.  We took a very fine tour with a young bearded redheaded guide, then took each site in again at our own pace.  We noticed some kids rolling and rolling down a grassy slope and I commented to their Dad that they looked very safe and happy.  He said he had grown up in Cashel and the Rock had always been his playground as well except that when he was small there were no gates and children could climb up and up into secret tunnels, through windows, and along damaged walls.  Now they are all safe from a potential accident.  But something has been lost.

Initially I agreed that this was a blow to children's happiness to be prevented from scrambling the ruins but after talking to another older guide who also used to scamper here as a child he gave me a different perspective on "loss."  He noted that Ireland's many magnificent ruins were in great part in worse condition than they might be because until the Republic was formed in the 1920s the guardians of Irish heritage did not really care for Irish heritage.  These "ruins" might have been more carefully maintained had the Irish had control of their land, churches, monuments and history.  So now he noted, Ireland was doing a great deal of catch-up on its wealth of artifacts and the maintenance issues are being tackled one expensive project at a time.

Irish cross with a circular "sun" arm-support system that appealed to pre-Christian Irish

 Any chance to read is taken, of course it was a guide book

The holes left by wooden scaffolding used in original construction are perfect nests for jackdaws

This same guide was forced into listening to my tale of my G-grandfather's story.  I think the Irish have to bear up under the weight of the tourist interest of many American seekers of a "homeland".
He was the first to really think about this story out loud with us.  He felt it unlikely that my GG had bothered to place an Irish flag way up on this unpeopled remote ruin in the 1850s.  More likely he thought it might have happened in the middle of town, either at the Palace built for the Archbishop of Cashel in the 18th century or at "Kearney's Castle" a prominent towered building near Main Street that had once housed the infamous Lord Inchiquin whose real name was Murough O'Brien - who attacked the town of Cashel in 1647 and slaughtered hundreds (some claim three thousand) of people by trapping and burning them to death in the Cathedral on the Rock of Cashel where they had taken up defenses.  My family story had been about the "Castle Cashel" not the Rock of Cashel so I think now if my GG's story is true than it is probably here that he made his statement.

The Castle added in the 1400s, shortening the nave, to the Cathedral on the Rock

Kearney's Castle, named for original builder, on a main street of Cashel proper, near a square. 

We also toured the Catholic Church, St. John the Baptist's and its cemetery.  These would have been ancestral "haunts" as well.  Tired from our hike all day we had lunch around 3PM.  Sausages and mashed potatoes in an overly ample serving with a side of french fries!  Two potato dishes in one meal, could this be Ireland? We skipped dinner unless you count the Jameson's and chocolate.

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.  I know my GGGrandfather and GGGMother were here

 Tribute to your church, your parents, and forever, importantly, yourself

People here are so friendly and funny.  The stories are true about that.  Wherever we go we get into detailed hilarious fun talks that make the day both luxurious and full.  Kind of like trying to drop into the Port Townsend Co-op and get out with a pound of butter within a half-hour.  If you know what I mean, locals will.

Tourism is serious, hard study, fueled by coffee