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| ROCK OF CASHEL, CO. TIPPERARY. -This storied place was anciently called, in Gaelic, Sidh-dhruim - Fairy Ridge. At a later period it obtained the name of Caiseal, which is translated a round, stone fort. Some antiquarians say that the original name was Cios-sil-Rent Rock, so called because, it is asserted, the ancient Kings of Munster used to collect their tributes on its summit. The modern Irish call the place "Cashel of the Kings." It is situated in the midst of the Golden Vein-held to be the most fertile tract of land in all Ireland. Although now a mere village, Cashel is, technically, a city and gives title to the Catholic Archbishop of Cashel and Emly. Tradition ascribes the formation of the Rock, which rises sole and solemn in the midst of a smiling country, to satanic agency. The legend runs thus: Old Nick, while driving a flock of condemned souls, in the form of goats, over Barnane mountain, thirty miles away, got angry at the steep obstruction and hit, in his fury, a piece out of the rocky crest of the ridge. This he flung over his right shoulder all the way to Cashel, and Barnane mountain shows the traces of Satan's teeth ever since. It has been known for ages as "the Devil's Bit," and, no doubt, will be to the end of time. The splendid ruins shows in the sketch are those of the superb Abbey, founded in the 11th century, Cormac's Chapel, called after a Bishop-King, killed in battle, and the round tower, which lifts its conical head on the right of the picture. These are the principal features of this Irish Acropolis. |
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