The Grass is always Greener in Ireland

With spring break drawing to an end, we did one more history stop on our way to Dublin. The kids thought I had a stutter when I said we were going to see Cashel rock (thought I meant "castle"). The Kings of Munster, whose kingdom extended over much of southern Ireland, lived on the rocky outcrop of Cashel. Saint Patrick came to Cashel in 450 and converted the kings from their pagan Celtic ways to Christianity. In 1101, the Munster King handed this fortress over to the Catholic church and Cashel flourished.
In 1647, in order to put a stop to the numerous wars between the Irish and Protestant settlers from England and Scotland, who had siezed and settled on the land of the native Irish Catholic, Oliver Cromwell was sent to Ireland. Cromwell's hostility to the Irish was religious as well as political. Cromwell opposed the Roman Catholic church, which he saw as corrupt papal and clerical authority, and whom he felt supported the persecution of the Protestant's in Europe. (This may have contributed to Cromwell's harshness in his military campaign in Ireland.) When Cromwell and his army arrived at the rock of Cashel, he massacered 3,000 Catholics. There are grave stones everywhere.

This medieval complex in Cashel was abandoned in 18th century. In the fog it looked eerie but it felt peaceful despite it's turbulent history. As we climbed to the top, Brendan looked around and said "the grass IS always greener in Ireland..."

We chuckled but as we looked around, we realized everything around us was green....

The crosses with the green moss

The Romanesque arches inside Cormac's chapel

The castle walls and 92 foot dry stone Round Tower (built w/o mortar)

You could peak around every corner and find luscious green

Even Mary look like she was carved from green stone. I had to double take as the fog even started to take on a green hue... No wonder it's nicknamed the "Emerald Isle."

The tombs in the north transept shrouded in shadow had the tinge of green and not black mold you'd expect.

Well I didn't pass on my green eyes to any of my children but they share a fascination with the lush color. And at the end of this day, we all agreed that the grass and rocks are always greener in Ireland!