Day 5 - Cahir Castle and the Rock of Cashel

My name is Landon Phipps. I am a freshman i wanted to go to Ireland because I want to travel around the world. I have only left the country once before and am excited to do it again. I am interested to learn about the trade and cooperation between the Vikings and the people of Ireland.



Today we visited our first castle called Cahir Castle (below left). It had arrow loops windows and also had stumble steps with low door frames also gates. Castles were a symbol of wealth and power. Cahir is one of the most intact castles in Ireland and one of the most violent. It’s nickname was “the stone fort beside the fishery”. Cahir has 4 towers and was mainly a private residence except in war times, during which it would be very busy. Plus the size of the tower was normally equal to the lord power. One of the down sides of Cahir is that during the night was very dark. We also learned that crossbows kill people 350m away and in 1599 Cahir was attacked and many people's first time hearing a cannon and scared many people and we saw a Cannonball was stuck in the outer wall.

The second castle is called the Rock of Cashel. Cashel also had low door frames and arrow loop windows. It is much more of a tourist attraction then Cahir because of its size. I learned that In 1101 it was made as a gift for Christian church and the Archbishop was made the leader of Cashel. Roman architecture was used for Cashel and made intricate patterns, the archbishop made a cathedral in gothic type, and when cashel was finished people were invited from all around. In 1348 1,400 people died in Dublin by the Black Death, when cashel began to decayed and the bishops left, and the castle was abandoned. I also went around exploring Cashel then it started to snow instead of rain and soaked my shoes.

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