Rock of Cashel

Thirty-five minutes from the castle, the Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland's most spectacular archaeological sites: a prominent green hill, banded with limestone outcrops, rising from a grassy plain and bristling with ancient fortifications.

Sturdy walls circle an enclosure containing a complete round tower, a thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral and the finest twelfth-century Romanesque chapel in Ireland, home to some of the land's oldest frescoes.