The Rock of Cashel is a limestone outcrop rising abruptly out of the Tipperary plain with a cathedral, a round tower and a twelfth-century Romanesque chapel on top of it. Kings of Munster were crowned there for four hundred years before they handed it to the Church. It is the most theatrical historic site in Ireland and it is ninety minutes from Dublin.
Cahir Castle, twenty minutes further south, is one of the largest and best-preserved Norman castles on the island — portcullis, keep, and a working set of defensive walls. Swiss Cottage, a short walk along the river, is a Regency ornamental cottage designed by John Nash.
Kilkenny finishes the day: a castle, a medieval mile of lanes, St Canice's Cathedral with its climbable round tower, and enough decent pubs and restaurants to make the return leg later than planned.
This is also the natural day to combine with a transfer to Adare, Cork or Killarney — we can run it as a routed transfer rather than a return loop.
