Architectural Colonisation in Anglo-Norman Munster

Medieval buildings on the Rock of Cashel site are dominated by the imposing cathedral church of St. Patrick, one of eleven cathedrals that are the focus of the research strand, Architectural colonisation in Anglo-Norman Munster.  This strand analyses the way in which thirteenth-century Gothic models were perceived both by the native population and by the Anglo-Norman settlers. It explores questions such as: was this a colonial style imposed on the country by a new aristocratic elite? To what extent was it accepted by Irish churchmen as a sign of progress and reform? Was it consciously modified and adapted by native born patrons?

St. Patrick's Cathedral is a cruciform aisleless building of rubble masonry rich with limestone and sandstone carved details. It was constructed in the thirteenth century during which time the archbishops were all native Irishmen. The location of the cathedral within the site accommodates two pre-existing medieval structures on the Rock: the Early Christian round tower and the Romanesque Cormac’s Chapel. The present-day Cathedral building may replace an earlier one: a clue to this lies in the arrangement and location of windows in the elongated choir. Other aspects of the building that intrigue include the short nave, the planning of the crossing piers, mural wall passages that run in front of the transept windows and the uncertain pedigree of the fifteenth century western tower: Archbishop’s palace or defensive structure? The transepts have two chapels each, the southern ones being shallower due the proximity of Cormac's Chapel. Stone carving in the Cathedral is rich and varied with 'stiff-leaf' foliate carving typical of the period and finely wrought, expressive figural head carvings. These appear at various locations within the building: on corbels and crossing capitals and as label stops on hood mouldings of the pointed lancet windows. The style of the carving, as well as such features as the wall passages, the steeply pointed windows, and the niches on the transept buttresses all point to English models yet the major patrons of the cathedral, the archbishops, were drawn from the local Irish community, highlighting issues of perception and reception in thirteenth-century Ireland.

Although the cathedral was sacked in 1647, following a siege of the Rock during the Confederacy Wars, it remained in use for religious services until the mid-eighteenth century, after which it was abandoned and gradually fell into decay. Following the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869, the buildings on the Rock of Cashel were transferred to the care of the State - they are currently under the care and protection of the Office of Public Works. Conservation on the site is ongoing.