Historical Postcard Collection: Cashel
Bailiúchán Chártaí Poist Stairiúla: Caiseal
"Caiseal na Ri" (Cashel of the Kings) is the message that welcomes the visitor to this celebrated town, but Cashel's story is not confined to tales of royalty. The ancient settlement has also served as an ecclesiastical hub and military fortress. Cashel's importance, established since antiquity, has carried through into modern times.
A Seat for Kings and Clerics
The Rock was the feature around which the town was built, as the outcrop of limestone was a ready-made fort. The Rock dominates the area's history. The word for fort in Irish is caiseal and, in Latin, castellum, hence the town's name. The Eóganacht established the first kingship in Cashel in the 4th or 5th Century. Soon after, St. Patrick made his famous visit and transformed the Munster kingship from one of paganism to Christianity. It was at Cashel that Munster's kings were crowned, one of the more famous being Brian Ború. In 1101 the royal seat became an ecclesiastical site when King Muircheartach Ua Briain granted the Rock to the church.
Ecclesiastical Establishment to Dissolution
In 1171 Henry II laid claim to the Norman conquest of the country, and on reaching Cashel he convened a synod there that attracted most of the Irish hierarchy. The town of Cashel itself was founded in 1218. From the 12th to the 15th Century the development of ornate and magnificent ecclesiastical buildings reflected its importance as a centre of religious administration and pilgrimage. In 1491 the Cathedral was burned by Gearóid Mór, the Earl of Kildare, who did so thinking that Archbishop David Creagh was inside. The Reformation dissolved Dominican and Cistercian (Hore) Abbeys, while the structures on the Rock became the property of the Church of Ireland.
The Bloody 1640s
Cashel saw the first stirrings of the Confederate War in Munster when, in 1642, Philip O'Dwyer of Kilnamanagh seized the town, a base for Lord President St. Leger's troops. Six years later it was brutally recaptured by Lord Inchiquin, who "thickly covered" the ground with corpses. In 1649 that massacre was still fresh in the memory, and, therefore, resistance to Cromwell was non-existent. He took the town at his ease and went to establish his headquarters there for a time.
Cashel Welcomes "Ireland's Advocate"
The 17th Century saw the establishment of a new Cathedral in the town, and in the mid 1700s the old Cathedral on the Rock was abandoned. The 1800s were years of lively political activity in the town, the highlight of which was Daniel O'Connell's first Repeal meeting in 1843. The venue was chosen for its symbolic value, and attracted a crowd of over 20,000. The centenary of Emancipation was celebrated there in 1929, drawing more enormous crowds to this famous place of pilgrimage.
Sources - Bassett, "Co. Tipperary"; Dúchas, "Rock of Cashel"; Moloney (Ed.), "Times to Cherish
Read more about:
Browse the Historical Postcard Collection:
Clonmel - Nenagh - Tipperary - Roscrea - Templemore - Carrick on Suir - Cashel - Cahir - Thurles - The Glen of Aherlow
last updated on: Tuesday, 03-Aug-2010 15:40:10 IST
"Caiseal na Rí" a chuireann fáilte roimh chuairteoirí chun an bhaile cáiliúil seo, ach ní ríthe amháin a líonann stair Chaisil. Ba dhún míleata agus lárionad eaglasta an lonnaíocht ársa seo. Lean tábhacht Chaisil ar aghaidh go dtí an lá atá inniu ann.
Áit Ríoga agus Cléireach
Tógadh an baile timpeall ar an gCarraig, mar ba dhún réamhdhéanta an charraig aolchloiche. Is í an charraig an gné is mó i stair an cheantair. Tagann an focal “Caiseal” ó “castellum” na Laidine, a chiallaíonn dún. Bhunaigh an Eóghanacht an chéad ríshliocht i gCaiseal sa 4ú nó 5ú hAois. Go luath i ndiaidh sin, tháinig Naomh Pádraig ar a chuairt cháiliúil agus chas sé ríshliocht Mumhan ón bpágántacht go Críostaíocht. Ba ag Caiseal a mbíodh corónaithe Ríthe Mumhan, ina measc Briain Bóramha. Ba in 1101 a déanadh áit eaglasta den charraig ríoga, nuair a bhronn Muircheartach Ua Briain ar an Eaglais í.
Búnadh Eaglasta go Díscaoileadh
In 1171, ghabh Anraí II an tír, agus ar theacht go Caiseal dó, ghair sé sionad a mheall formhór d’uaisle na hÉireann. Bunaíodh an baile é féin sa bhliain 1218. Ón 12ú haois suas go dtí an 15ú hAois d’fhorbair na foirgnimh órnáideacha eaglasta ar chomhchéim leis an tábhacht riaracháin agus oilithriúnachta. Sa bhliain 1491, dhóigh Gearóid Mór, Iarla Chill Dara an Árdeaglais, é ag ceapadh go raibh an tÁrdeaspag Dáibhí Mac Creatha taobh istigh. Leis an Reifirméisean, díscaoileadh na Mainistreacha Doiminiceacha agus Cistéirseacha, agus ghlac Eaglais na hÉireann seilbh ar na foirgnimh ar an gCarraig.
Na 1640daí Fuilteacha
Chonaic Caiseal Cogadh na Comhdhála don chéad uair nuair a ghabh Pilib Ó Duibhir ó Chill na Manach an baile, a bhí mar bhunáit do thrúpaí an Uachtaráin, an Tiarna St. Leger. Ghabh an Tiarna Inchiquin arís é sé bhliain níos déanaí agus chlúdaigh sé an talamh le coirp. Ba chuimhin le muintir an bhaile go maith an ár sin i 1649 nuair a tháinig Cromail, agus níor cuireadh ina aghaidh. Ghabh se an baile ar a shuaimhneas, agus bhí sé mar cheanncheathrú aige ar feadh tamaill.
Cuireann Caiseal Fáilte Roimh “Abhcóide na hÉireann”
Sa 17ú hAois, bunaíodh Ardeaglais nua sa bhaile agus tréigeadh an seanardeaglais ar an gCarraig sna 1700. B’iomaí eachtra polaitiúil a tharla sna 1800, bhí an cheád Chruinniú Repéil de chuid Dónaill Uí Chonaill in 1843 mar bhuachphointe. Roghnaíodh Caiseal ar bhonn siombalachais, agus mealladh slua d’os cionn 20,000. Céiliúradh comóradh céad bliain na Fuascailte ansin i 1929, rud a tharraing níos mó sluaite móra chun na háite oilithriúnachta seo.
Foinsí - Bassett, "Co. Tipperary"; Dúchas, "Rock of Cashel"; Moloney (Ed.), "Times to Cherish
Léigh níos mó faoi:
Brabhsáil an bailiúchán chártaí poist stairiúla:
Cluain Meala - Nenagh - Tipperary - Roscrea - Templemore - Carrick on Suir - Cashel - Cahir - Thurles - Gleann Eatharlaí
nuashonraithe ar: Tuesday, 03-Aug-2010 15:40:10 IST