Cashel is recognized as one of three prominent centers of Irish Culture. The other two are Armagh and the renowned Tara. Although we sing of the harp “that once on Tara’s walls did hang,” there are no architectural remains on the hill of Tara. Cashel, on the other hand, is a maze of architectural ruins spanning many centuries. Scholars consider it the most remarkable collection of Celtic and medieval ruins to be found in Europe.
In 1649 Oliver Cromwell was named Lord Protector of England after defeating the forces of the Catholic King Charles I, whom he had beheaded. Having secured England for the Parliamentarians (the Roundheads and Puritans), Cromwell turned his attention to the subjugation of Ireland, which was largely Catholic. In September his forces conquered Drogheda and had its 3500 defenders as well as women and children slaughtered. Cashel, too, was sacked by Cromwell’s troops under the leadership of one Murrough O’Brien. Fearing a similar slaughter, the Catholic soldiers and town’s people of Cashel took refuge in the cathedral thinking they would be safe under the medieval rule of “sanctuary,” which allowed felons and others to seek refuge in a church or monastery where they could not be harmed or forced to leave. Notwithstanding this centuries old custom, Cromwell’s troops piled turf around the cathedral, lit it and roasted the refugees to death.