The original Rock of Cashel included a Romanesque Chapel and a numerous amount of other buildings, but is actually only four distinct structures The Hall of the Vicars Choral, Cormac�s Chapel, the round tower, and the Cathedral.

In the 4th century the rock was founded for the purpose of being the base of power for the Eoghanachta clan of Wales. They eventually took over the surrounding territories an became Kings of the land. Once during a ceremony in the 5th century to bring a new King to power a saint accidentally stabbed the King to be in the foot with a crozier, the King to be thought it was an initiation rite and bore the pain.

The clan lost possession of the Rock in the 10th century to the O'Brien tribe under the leadership of Brian Boru. In the 12th century the present King gave the Rock to the church, this prevented the clan from reclaiming it for themselves. As a sign of goodwill, Cormac McCarthy built Cormac's Chapel in 1169 before leaving.

The Cathedral is a 13th century Gothic structure which overshadows the other parts of the ruined castle today. At the top of the Cathedral is a square tower with a turret on the corner. Also throughout the Cathedral are panels from 16th century alter tombs bearing the coat of arms of the once prominate Butler family. The Cathedral lies to the left of the much smaller structure of Cormac�s Chapel.

Cormac�s Chapel was built in 1127 long before the larger Cathedral. It is a small, solid, stone roofed chapel of cruciform shape. Inside the main door to the left is a stone sarcophagus, dating from 1125 - 1150, said to house the body of King Cormac. Restoration work is currently being done to remove the whitewash on the ceiling.

The round tower doesn�t have much of a history at all to my knowledge, but it dates from the 11th or 12th century and is 28 meters tall and stands at the corner of the Cathedral.