Cashel (kăˈshəl) [key] [Irish, = castle], town (1991 pop. 2,314), Co. Tipperary, S central Republic of Ireland. An agricultural market, it was formerly the ancient capital of the kings of Munster and was the stronghold of Brian Boru. On the Rock of Cashel, rising 300 ft (91 m) in the center of town, are the ruins of the 13th-century St. Patrick's Cathedral, a round tower (10th cent.), an ancient cross, and Cormac's Chapel (12th cent.). Below the Rock are the ruins of Hore Abbey (1272). Cashel is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop and of an Anglican bishop.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.