Caher Things to Do

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Building was completed in 1881. The Mercy Sisters have been mostly involved in the health and education fields. The Cahir Convent was Mother House to three convents (Clogheen, Ballyporeen and Portlaw) and two hospitals (Clogheen District and St. Joseph's Clonmel), as well as several primary and second-level schools.

Impressive building and spacious garden surrounding it.

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It has build in medieval times and became Anglican parish church at the Reformation and remained so until 1820s.

It is in ruins and still waiting archaeological works because it is believed that it has built on the top of older building. I saw a hole on the ground in churcyard from where the nave could be seen. Very interesting and seemed as if the roof of this underground structure falled in.

Church ruins itself fits well to some spooky movie.

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Nice building, built by Butler family on nineteen century, originally spinning factory.
Now you can buy local artists craft from there. I always try to buy local craftsmen work.
It is a nice souvenir and when signed, it gets more valuable over the years. Your grandchildren might be grateful to you one day.

There are art exhibitions held on the second floor!

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When you get there and look closer you immediately see, that castle has been built in the island and on the natural limestone rock. Great two deffences. Before the Butler family took it over, there was a earthen stronghold belonging to local chief. But Butler family owned this castle for 700 years.
They were great diplomats, that is one reason the castle was never fully destroyed during wars.

It really gives you good idea how the life was in 15-17 century castles.

The entrance fee was only 3 EUR and it included a tour. I strongly suggest this. In addition there was a 15min documentary show on the old stables after the tour.

Opening hours:

Open all year round:

Mid Oct - February: Daily 09.30 - 16.30
March - Mid June: Daily 09.30 - 17.30
Mid June - August; Daily 09.00 - 18.30
Sept - Mid Oct: Daily 09.30 - 17.30

Closed at Christmas from the 24th to the 30th December inclusive.

Average Length of Visit: 1 - 1.5 hours

PS! Lot of movies have been shot in there. Remember " Tristan and Isolde "? Tour guide also revealed proudly a little secret that Mr.Mel Gibson was visiting the town, looking for ideas and places to shot for his new movie about month ago. Well, well, well...

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Cahir Castle is regarded as one of Ireland's finest and best preserved castles. Originally it was Conor O'Brien, Lord of Thomond, who built a fort here on the banks of the Suir River in the 12th century (around 1142).
The original fort was later expanded and developed by The Butler family, who acquired the castle in the 14th century. James Butler, Baron of Cahir, was given the castle in 1375 as areward for his loyalty. However the Butler's support of the Irish during the Elizabethan Wars, led to the castle being captured in 1599 after a siege by the loyalist Earl of Essex.
The castle was again the site of further conflict during the Irish Confederate Wars when it wsa besieged and surrendered twice one to Lord Inchiquin in 1647 and later to Oliver Cromwell in 1650. (See Cashel page for more on Inchiquin and Cromwell sieges in Cashel)
The Castle was abondoned in the 18th centruy and fell into disrepair and eventual ruin but has was since been restored and is presently run and owned by the state. Incidently the last of the Butler's only passed away in 1961 when the castle was passed over to state ownership.
The castle is one of Ireland's most visited heritage sites and because of the town's location close to the town of Cashel, it is an easy catch for anyone visiting the mighty Rock of Cashel (See my Cashel Page for more details on the 'Rock')

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Cahir Castle was our 1st stop in Cahir, we found a free parking spot on the street right across from the castle. The castle, located on a rocky island in the middle of the River Suir, was the stronghold of the Butler family (the earls of Ormonde), the Butler's more or less remained in control of Cahir Castle from 1375 until 1961 with a brief change of hands when the Earl of Essex took it over in 1599 after a 3 day siege, again in 1647 when the guardian of a young Lord Cahir surrendered to Lord Inchiquin and yet again in 1650 when the castle was surrendered to Oliver Cromwell after he wrote them a letter demanding the castle, there wasn't even a shot fired that time.

There are guided tours available but we chose to wander the ground by ourselves, there's a room filled display cases and boards explaining the history of the castle and an audiovisual presentation you can watch. We spent about an hour here, admission is included on the Heritage Card.

The drive from Lismore to Cahir wasn't nearly as arduous as I thought, I see the word mountains and I automatically think "oh crap" but the drive wasn't bad at all and was relatively scenic. You'll see signs as you drive along R668 for The Vee which as you'd suspect offers a V shaped view of the valley as you are driving through the mountains, there's a place you can pull off the road and snap a photo or two.

The name Knockmealdown isn't nearly as interesting as it sounds, it translates into "bare brown mountain".

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After visiting Cahir Castle, we drove to the Swiss Cottage about 2km away from the castle. It was built in the early 1800s, the architect is thought to be John Nash who was one of the most fashionable architects of the Regency period, most notably for the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. The style is "cottage orné", it was built as a hunting lodge (or perhaps as a place for him to rendezvous with his mistress) for Richard Butler, Lord Caher and later the 1st Earl of Glengall. The cottage fell into disrepair over the years but I still found it quite incredible that this cottage cost over 500,000 to restore when you consider there are only four rooms in the cottage. The salon is decorated with ornate Parisian Dufour wallpaper, some sections of it original, some of it replaced.

The exterior of the thatched roof cottage was designed to blend in with nature and the interior design is intentionally asymetrical, you'll notice that the windows are all different sizes, the entrances feature different size steps, the window panes all different in design.

The visit is by guided tour only, we had just missed a tour and ended up waiting for about 1/2 hour, the tour itself takes about an hour. Interior photography is not allowed but you can take photos of the interior from the outside for the two ground floor rooms. Admission is included on the Heritage Card