One of our first day tours was to the Rock of Cashel, where there are ruins of an 11th century church. There is certainly a lot of history in Ireland, most of it having to do with one group invading another. Most of the fortifications came into existence due to their physical location. The Rock of Cashel was built because of its strategic location - atop a moderately high knoll which provides a commanding view of the surrounding land. The round tower (92 feet high) dates from the 12th century while the rest of the buildings date from the 13th century.

It w o ul d b e e xt re m el y difficult to sneak up on the occupants as the land surrounding the castle is mostly flat. From the 5th century, this rocky outcrop was the seat of the Kings of Munster, whose kingdom extended over much of southern Ireland. Cashel was turned over to the church in 1101 and it flourished as a religious centre until 1647 when a siege by a Cromwellian army ended in the massacre of its 3,000 inhabitants.

You get a better perspective of the granduer of the roofless Gothic cathedral as Jim stands in the center of the Crossing above, right.

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