Cashel Caiseal | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Panorama of town from theRock of Cashel | |
  Cashel Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:52°31′00″N7°53′22″W / 52.516717°N 7.889428°W /52.516717; -7.889428 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Tipperary |
| Barony | Middle Third |
| Elevation | 125 m (410 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 4,805 |
| Time zone | UTC0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (IST) |
| Eircode | E25 |
| Area code | 062 |
| Irish Grid Reference | S075408 |
| Website | www |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1821 | 5,974 | — |
| 1831 | 6,971 | +16.7% |
| 1841 | 7,036 | +0.9% |
| 1851 | 4,650 | −33.9% |
| 1861 | 4,327 | −6.9% |
| 1871 | 4,562 | +5.4% |
| 1881 | 3,961 | −13.2% |
| 1891 | 3,216 | −18.8% |
| 1901 | 2,938 | −8.6% |
| 1911 | 2,813 | −4.3% |
| 1926 | 2,953 | +5.0% |
| 1936 | 3,028 | +2.5% |
| 1946 | 3,063 | +1.2% |
| 1951 | 2,829 | −7.6% |
| 1956 | 2,817 | −0.4% |
| 1961 | 2,679 | −4.9% |
| 1966 | 2,682 | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 2,692 | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 2,754 | +2.3% |
| 1986 | 2,829 | +2.7% |
| 1991 | 2,814 | −0.5% |
| 1996 | 2,957 | +5.1% |
| 2002 | 2,770 | −6.3% |
| 2006 | 2,936 | +6.0% |
| 2011 | 4,051 | +38.0% |
| 2016 | 4,422 | +9.2% |
| 2022 | 4,805 | +8.7% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Cashel (/ˈkæʃəl/;Irish:Caiseal, meaning 'stoneringfort')[6] is a town inCounty Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,805 in the2022 census.[1] The town gives its name to theecclesiastical province ofCashel. Additionally, thecathedra of theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to theEnglish Reformation. It is part of the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen in the same archdiocese.[7] One of the six cathedrals of theAnglicanBishop of Cashel and Ossory, who currently resides inKilkenny, is located in the town. It is in thecivil parish of St. Patricksrock[8] which is in the historicalbarony ofMiddle Third.
The town is situated in theGolden Vale, an area of rollingpastureland in the province ofMunster.
It is located off theM8Dublin toCorkmotorway. Prior to the construction of the motorway by-pass (in 2004), the town was noted as a bottleneck on the N8 Dublin to Corkroute.
Bus Éireann operates a service (route 245X) between Dublin and Cork which calls at Cashel.Bus Éireann route 128X provides a link toPortlaoise viaUrlingford. The Shamrock Bus Company operates aThurles toClonmel route via Cashel.
Cashel used to be served by a railway, theCashel spur line, which is now closed. The nearest railway station isCahir, 17 kilometers away. This station is on an infrequently serviced line, but is useful if travelling east to/fromWaterford. The most convenient and frequently serviced rail station for Cashel isThurles as this is on the Dublin-Cork InterCity rail line.
TheRock of Cashel, to which the town below owes its origin, is an isolated elevation of stratifiedlimestone, rising abruptly from a broad and fertile plain called theGolden Vale. The top of this eminence is crowned by a group of remarkable ruins. Originally known as Fairy Hill, or Sid-Druim, the Rock was, in pagan times, thedun, or castle, of the ancient Eoghnacht Chiefs of Munster. In Gaelic,Caiseal denotes a circular stone fort and is the name of several places in Ireland. The "Book of Rights" suggests the name is derived fromCais-il, i.e. "tribute stone", because the Munster tribes paid tribute on the Rock. Here Corc, grandfather of Aengus Mac Natfraich, erected a fort. Cashel subsequently became the capital of Munster and, likeTara andArmagh, it was a celebrated court. At the time of St. Patrick, when Aengus ruled as king, Cashel claimed supremacy over all the royal duns of the province.
In the 5th century, theEóganachta dynasty founded their capital on and around the rock. Many kings of Munster have reigned here since.Saint Patrick is believed to have baptised Cashel's third king, Aengus. In 977 theDál gCais usurper,Brian Boru, was crowned here as the first non-Eóghanacht king of Cashel and Munster in over five hundred years. In 1101 his great-grandson, KingMuirchertach Ua Briain, gave the place to thebishop of Limerick, thus denying it forever to the MacCarthys, the senior branch of the Eóganachta. The bishops had a famous school in Cashel and sent priests all over the continent, especially toRegensburg in Germany, where they maintained their own monastery, calledScots Monastery.
The Synod of Cashel of 1172 was organised byHenry II of England. The Synod sought to regulate some affairs of the Church in Ireland and to condemn some abuses, bringing the Church more into alignment with theRoman Rite. It has been suggested that the seventh act of the Synod called upon the clergy and people of Ireland to acknowledgeHenry II of England as their king.[9] However, a careful reading of theseventh act would not support this interpretation.[10] Nevertheless, there is little doubt that the King's purpose in requiring the convocation was to overawe the Irish clergy with a display of his power; no doubt he succeeded in this. In this scenario, the convocation would be viewed as a pretext for the show of strength.
St. Dominic's Abbey, aDominican monastery, was established in 1243.On 30 December 1640, Cashel was captured by an Irish force under Pilib Ó Dubhuir (died 1648) of Dundrum and his brother Donnchadh Ó Dubhuir (hanged in 1652). They took prisoner 300 members of the English garrison and inhabitants. The following day, 15 prisoners were killed as revenge for earlier atrocities against the Irish; however, this was against Ó Dubhuir's orders. In 1647, during theIrish Confederate Wars, the town wasstormed and sacked by English Parliamentarian troops under the6th Baron Inchiquin (later created the 1stEarl of Inchiquin). Over 1,000Irish Catholic soldiers and civilians, including several prominent clerics, were killed in the attack and ensuing massacre.
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About 450, Saint Patrick preached at the royaldun and converted kingAengus. TheTripartite Life of the saint relates that while "he was baptising Aengus the spike of thecrozier went through the foot of the King" who bore with the painful wound in the belief "that it was a rite of the Faith". According to the same authority, twenty-seven kings of the race of Aengus and his brother Aillil ruled in Cashel until 897, whenCerm-gecan was slain in battle. There is no evidence that St Patrick founded a church at Cashel, or appointed a Bishop of Cashel.St Ailbe, it is supposed, had already fixed his see atEmly, not far off, and within the king's dominions. Cashel continued to be the chief residence of the Kings of Munster until 1100, hence its title, "City of the Kings". Before that date, there was no mention in the native annals of any Bishop, or Archbishop of Cashel.Cormac MacCullinan is referred to, but not correctly, as Archbishop of Cashel, by later writers. He was a bishop, but not of Cashel, where he was king. The most famous man in Ireland of his time, but more of a scholar and warrior than an ecclesiastic, Cormac has left us a glossary of Irish names, which displays his knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and the "Psalter of Cashel", a work treating of the history and antiquities of Ireland. He was slain in 903, in a great battle near Carlow.
Brian Boru (Old Irish:Brian Bóruma) fortified Cashel in 990. Murtagh O'Brien, King of Cashel, in presence of the chiefs and clergy, made a grant in 1101 of the "Rock" with the territory around it to O'Dunan, "noble bishop and chief senior of Munster", and dedicated it to God and St. Patrick. Then Cashel became an archiepiscopal see, and O'Dunan its first prelate as far as theprimate,St. Celsus, could appoint him. At thesynod of Kells, 1152,Cardinal Paparo gave apallium toDonat O'Lonergan of Cashel, and since then his successors have ruled the ecclesiastical province of Munster. In 1127Cormac III of Munster, King of Desmond, erected close to his palace on the "Rock" a church, now known as Cormac's Chapel, which was consecrated in 1134, when a synod was held within its walls. During the episcopate of Donal O'Hullican (1158–1182), theKing of Limerick,Domnall O'Brien, built in 1169 a more spacious church beside Cormac's Chapel, which then became achapterhouse.
Maurice, a Geraldine, filled the see from 1504 to 1523, and was succeeded by Edmund Butler, prior ofAthassal Abbey, who was a natural son of Pierce, Earl of Ormond. In addition to the wars between the Irish and the English there arose a new element of discord, the Anglican Reformation introduced byHenry VIII. While residing at Kilmeaden Castle Archbishop Butler levied black-mail on the traders of theSuir, robbing their boats and holding their persons for ransom. At a session of the royalprivy council held atClonmel in 1539, he swore to uphold the spiritual supremacy of the king and denied the power in Ireland of the Bishop of Rome. He died 1550 and was buried in the cathedral.
Roland, a Geraldine (1553–1561), was created Archbishop by the Roman Catholic Church at the recommendation ofQueen Mary. After a vacancy of six years, Maurice FitzGibbon (1567–1578), aCistercian abbot, was promoted to the archbishopric byPope Pius V, but JamesMacCaghwell (McCawell) was put forward byElizabeth I of England. Thus began the Anglican religion at Cashel. FitzGibbon, who belonged to the royal Desmond family, being deprived of his see, fled to France and passed into Spain where he resided for a time at the Court. He conferred with the English ambassador at Paris to obtain pardon for leaving the country without the Queen's sanction, and to get permission to return. In this he failed, and going back to Ireland secretly he was arrested and imprisoned at Cork, where he died in 1578. On the death of MacCaghwell, Elizabeth advancedMiler MacGrath, aFranciscan andBishop of Down, to theSee of Cashel. He held at the same time four bishoprics and severalbenefices, out of which he provided for his numerous offspring. Having occupied the see for fifty-two years, he died in 1622. His monument in the ruined cathedral bears an epitaph written by himself.
Dermot O'Hurley, or Diarmaid Ó hUrthuile, of Limerick, a distinguished student of theuniversity of Louvain in theDuchy of Brabant and professor atReims in France, was appointed Archbishop of Cashel in 1581 by PopeGregory XIII. Having presided over the Roman Catholic diocese secretly for two years, he was discovered and brought before theLord Justices at Dublin, was tortured upon his refusal to take theOath of Supremacy to the English crown and was subsequently hanged outside the city on 20 June 1584.
Following his killing by a relative c. 1724, the severed head ofRapparee and localfolk heroÉamonn an Chnoic wasdisplayed spiked upon Cashel Gaol until some local men removed it and gave the head to O'Ryan's sister, who arranged for a Catholic burial.[11]
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Dr Butler 2nd (1774–1791), on being appointed to the Roman Catholic diocese, settled inThurles, where the Roman Catholic archbishops since then have resided. His successor, Archbishop Bray (1792–1820), built a large church in the early part of the 19th century, on the site of which ArchbishopPatrick Leahy (1857–1874) erected a splendid cathedral inRomanesque style. It was completed and consecrated in 1879 byArchbishop Croke (1874–1902) and dedicated toOur Lady of the Assumption.
St Albert (feast 8 January), a reputed former bishop, is thepatron saint of the Roman Catholic diocese. The Archbishop of Cashel is Administrator of the ancient Diocese of Emly.
The Anglican archbishopric was reduced in status by legislation of 1833 and the bishopric combined initially with Waterford. Today the Church of Ireland, Cashel Union of Parishes[12] is part of The Diocese of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory[13]
Cashel is home to the following schools and education institutions:
TheRock of Cashel is now one of Ireland's most popular tourist sites. The town has several other attractions, including theBolton Library.[29]
Cashel Town Hall, which accommodates the Heritage Centre and Tourist Office, on Main Street displays a model of Cashel in the 1640s and a multimedia presentation in several languages, and sells Tipperary crafts. Thecharters granted by kingsCharles II (1663) andJames II (1687) are on display in the Heritage Centre.[30]
The Georgian Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist and St Patrick's Rock on John Street (which replaced that on the Rock in the 18th century) and its adjacent Chapter House (which housed the Bolton Library from the 1980s till the 2000s), city walls, and the former Deanery.[12] The former Church of Ireland Archbishop's palace re-opened as a hotel in 2022.[31][32]
St. Dominic's Abbey's ruins are visible southeast of the Rock.
The Cashel Folk Village includes replica displays of country life in early Ireland, including an oldpublic house, a butcher's shop, a farmhouse, aTraveller's caravan, and a chapel. It also includes republican monuments commemorating Tipperary's role in theAnglo-Irish War andIrish Civil War.
A street inChristchurch, New Zealand, is named after the bishopric.[33]
Cashel King Cormacs GAA is the localGaelic Athletic Association club.
Other local sports teams include Cashel Town Football Club (a local association football club) andCashel RFC (the localrugby union club).
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