Rock of Cashel
We spent a couple hours in Blarney which pleased everyone else in the group, but looking back on it, I think I would have preferred to learn more about Macroom. Such is the price of traveling on a tour. Judging by all the green and white shopping accompanying my fellow busmates it looked like the Blarney Woolen Mills would have plenty of capital to add an addition to their facility.
Our next stop via a quick pass by Cork was the Rock of Cashel. This is a near mythical site of reverence for the Irish. It is said that it was on this site that St. Patrick converted the King of Munster and where Kings ruled Ireland before the Norman invasion. The Munster kings were not cowed by the Danish and Norse Vikings that settled in the Dublin area. They maintained autonomy and kept Christianity alive during the Dark Ages.
Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than se... ... read more 
