On the coldest and windiest day of my twelve in Ireland, we visited these ancient ruins. The Rock of Cashel, the traditional seat of the King of the Province of Munster, has many structures, built centuries apart, which together, if seen from overhead, resemble the shape of a cross. This mother and daughter are looking up toward the place where there used to be a wooden roof over this chapel, hundreds of years ago, but now there is only the open sky to serve as a ceiling.
The holes in the wall above them are remnants of balconies or windows where nobility could walk out and observe the service without mingling with the common folk. As an aside, there are also narrow, angled slits in the wall on stage left that served as windows close to where the altar would have been placed (similar to the angled window panels one might see in a funeral home chapel). These were used by the sick, so that they could observe the service without being seen by anyone else. Sounds a little cruel, but imagine sitting next to someone in church that had festering ulcers all over their skin and fingers or their nose missing from leprosy. It’s actually quite compassionate, because without this separate room, the sick or dying could never have partaken in the sacrament.
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