Ireland '08 Pictures 1 2 3 4 5 6
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We found the remains of this big old church at the foot of the hill close to the Rock of Cashel

Apparently the big old church was rebuilt by one of my ancestor's (John Cantwell) back in 1480. That's what the plaque says.

It looks like it could use some rebuilding again

This is our first view of the Rock of Cashel

This is the view looking towards Hore Abbey

This is a replica of St. Patrick's Cross. The original used to stand here but was moved to the museum due to erosion

It is possible that this sarcophagus was once occupied by the body of the brother of King Cormac MacCarthy, but nobody knows for sure

O'Scully's crypt used to have an elaborate Irish cross on top but charge separation followed by discharge (aka lightning) brought the cross down in 1976

There were some renovations of the Rock going on while we were there

The Plain of Tipperary or the "Golden Vale" is considered the most fertile soil in Ireland. The cows think so too

Inside the Catheral there are a lot of tourists like me but you can't see me because I'm holding the camera

You can see my father worshiping the Boston Red Sox inside the Cathedral

 

In 1848 a huge storm known as "the night of the big wind" in Irish lore (reminds me of a story my father told me) blew this huge chunk of stone off the Rock. You can see the hole it left

This is the original St. Patrick's Cross that sits in the museum

Next we went to Kilkenny (not to be confused with South Park) where we saw Kilkenny Castle

There was a nice view looking away from the Castle

And this is the view looking into the Castle

Kilkenny was also a quaint town

Another quaint view of another quaint street

My father had some banking business that never really got settled in Ireland

I think this was St. Mary's and I think this is where some of my ancestor's were married. I need to do a lore check on that. It would be optimistic and irresponsible to use the word fact in place of lore.

Ireland '08 Pictures 1 2 3 4 5 6