Cashel (Irish: Caiseal Mumhan, meaning Stone Fortress of Munster) is a town in County Tipperary, in the southern midlands of Ireland, which is also the episcopal see of a Roman Catholic archbishopric (though the cathedral is in Thurles) and of an Anglican bishop (who is also bishop of Ossory and as such resides in Kilkenny). Population 2,936.
The town is just off the M8 route from Dublin to Cork. Cashel is particularly renowned for the Rock of Cashel, a site hosting a ruined church and fortifications, formerly the seat of the Irish kings of Munster. The town was once a notorious bottleneck on the N8 Dublin-Cork route, but was bypassed in 2004.
The Rock of Cashel is now one of Ireland's most popular tourist sites. The town has many other interesting attractions, including the GPA Bolton Library (which houses many books found nowhere else in the world).
The Heritage Centre & Tourist Office on Main Street (admission free) displays a model of Cashel in the 1640s and a multimedia presentation in several languages, and sells Tipperary crafts.
The Charters granted by the kings Charles II Stuart (1663) and James II Stuart (1687) are on display in the Heritage Centre.
Walking is the best way to discover the Heritage Town of Cashel, the Georgian St. John's Cathedral (which replaced that on the Rock in the eighteenth century) and its adjacent Bolton Library, city walls, and the former Deanery or archbishop's palace which is now a leading hotel.