Passages: Round the Rock of Cashel

At Cashel

On our way back to Dublin to fly out to Scotland, we spent an overnight in Cashel at Peggy O'Neill's B&B. Peggy O'Neill is an Irish folk song, and so Peggy, who owns the place, took that as the name for her business.

The irrepressible Peggy and her husband Jim hosted and entertained us. Jim is inclined to tease, but somehow it's all part of his personality, and it works. (Overheard at the breakfast table was an interchange with a couple of Australians. The conversation was about the lack of a sense of humor on the part of immigration officials. One of the Australians recalled how his New Zealand friend, who was moving to Australia at the time, had come to the part of the immigration form that asked for "criminal history," and the Kiwi had written, "I didn't know you still needed one"--a joking reference to Australia's beginnings as a British penal colony. Of course, that was not well received. But it does sound a lot like something some of our Kiwi friends would do!

More humor was to come. Taking the guided tour of the Rock of Cashel, the place where the ancient kings of Munster were crowned, and where St. Patrick came to convert the people to Christianity. "What do you know about St. Patrick," the guide asked?

One woman replied, "He chased the snakes out of Ireland."

"Ah, no, that's just the legend," said the guide. "We still have snakes. It's just now they were suits and live in Dublin."

The Rock of Cashel is a beautiful place, complete with its round tower, built around 1100.

Rock of Cashel

The medieval Flemish tapestry was woven with intentional mistakes--because, the weavers believed, only God is perfect. (But it's kind of presumptions to make purposeful mistakes too, isn't it?)