The "rock" is a 2 acre plateau rising 200 feet above the surrounding area. Built upon it are structures dating back to 1100A.D. It is probably the largest and the best preserved ancient site we've seen in Ireland.
I'm not sure that these do a good job of representing the space, but here are a couple of panoramic photos of the inside of the cathedral.
And a panoramic photo of the Irish countryside taken from atop the Rock of Cashel
The 2.5 hour drive back to the hotel got us there just before the sun set. Before heading down to dinner, we got our luggage organized to get out quickly the next morning.
At dinner we played fetch with Einstein, a 12 year old corgi and sheepdog mix. The staff gathers a small handfull of stones from outside, and has a guest toss them across the room one by one. Einstein picks up each rock and holds them in his mouth while he waits for the next to be thrown. Once they've all been thrown, Einstein is told, "That's it. There aren't any more." He then carries the rocks around in his mouth for 10 or 15 minutes while he is "counting them". Once he has a good idea of how many rocks he has, he'll drop them all at the feet of a random guest and wait for that guest to pick them up and toss them. He'll know when he's found them all and will drop them at the feet of another guest to be thrown yet again. The staff of the hotel explained that he has been known in the past to keep one rock hidden in his mouth while dropping the rest once at the feet of a guest that has thrown them multiple times. Then, with the rock hidden away in his cheek, he'll follow that guest around watching them lift chairs and look under tables trying to find the missing rock.
Look closely in that last photo and you can see he has a mouthful of rocks.
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