Cashel is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,422 in the 2016 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Additionally, the cathedra of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to the English Reformation. It is part of the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen in the same archdiocese. One of the six cathedrals of the AnglicanBishop of Cashel and Ossory, who currently resides in Kilkenny, is located in the town. It is in the civil parish of St. Patricksrock which is in the historical barony of Middle Third.
Location and access
The town is situated in the Golden Vale, an area of rolling pastureland in the province of Munster.
Roads
It is located off the M8 Dublin to Cork motorway. Prior to the construction of the motorway by-pass (in 2004), the town was noted as a bottleneck on the N8 Dublin to Cork route.
Bus services
Bus Éireann operates an expressway service (route X8) between Dublin and Cork which calls at Cashel. Bus Éireann route 128X provides a link to Portlaoise via Urlingford. The Shamrock Bus Company operates a Thurles to Clonmel route via Cashel.
Rail services
Cashel used to be served by a railway, the Cashel spur line, which is now closed. The nearest railway station is Cahir, 17 kilometers away. This station is on an infrequently serviced line, but is useful if travelling east to/from Waterford. The most convenient and frequently serviced rail station for Cashel is Thurles as this is on the Dublin-Cork InterCity rail line.
Airports
The nearest airports are Cork Airport and Shannon Airport, both of which are around 80 km away. Dublin Airport is located 150 km away.
Tourism
The Rock of Cashel is now one of Ireland’s most popular tourist sites. The town has several other attractions, including the Bolton Library (which houses many books found nowhere else in the world).
The Heritage Centre & Tourist Office on Main Street displays a model of Cashel in the 1640s and a multimedia presentation in several languages, and sells Tipperary crafts. The charters granted by kings Charles II (1663) and James II (1687) are on display in the Heritage Centre.
The Georgian Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist and St Patrick’s Rock on John Street (which replaced that on the Rock in the 18th century) and its adjacent Chapter House (which housed the Bolton Library from the 1980s till the 2000s), city walls, and the former Deanery. The former Church of Ireland Archbishop’s palace which is now being restored to be a leading hotel off Main Street.
The Cashel Folk Village includes replica displays of country life in early Ireland, including an old public house, a butcher’s shop, a farmhouse, a Traveller’s caravan, and a chapel. It also includes republican monuments commemorating Tipperary’s role in the Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War.
