By Elaine Moriarty
Transcript
‘Mine is an unusual job. I am neither a butcher nor a baker nor a candlestick maker. You could be guessing for a year and a day and you’d never guess what I am. The word ‘unique’ is much abused, but my position and now lays claim to it. I’d best start off by giving myself my correct title which is ‘Official Caretaker of, and guide to, the Rock of Cashel, Hore Abbey, St. Dominics Abbey in the city of Cashel, in the County of Tipperary, Ireland. That would sound fine in the mouth of a good herald.’
That is a piece from an article written by my Grandfather Joe Minogue and published by The Bell in 1942. In the same article he states that in 1942 he held the job for close to twenty years. His brother held it before that and his father had it before him again. Between the three of them they had given, at that stage, the greater part of fifty years on the Rock
I always knew our family had a connection with the Rock of Cashel. It wasn’t until I read this article that I realised how special that connection was and still is today. Saturdays were spent at Granny Minogue’s house in the shadow of the Rock. Once my brother Michael was with me I was allowed to visit Uncle Billy on the Rock. Uncle Billy had taken over the position in 1957 after my Grandfather’s death. The Rock was magical and scary at the same time it depended on the weather. On dark days it was a bleak place with the crow’s cawing all around us ducking in and out of the putlog holes where they nested.
On sunny days the Rock took on a different face, the buildings glistening in the sun. These days were my favourite. We would roll down the steep hill near my Grandad Joe’s grave and if we were lucky, be allowed up to the bell tower. We never left the Rock until we made a wish in the well just outside the back door of the Cathedral. If you got the stone into the well without it hitting the sides your wish came true unlucky if not.
On leaving, Uncle Billy would give me a wink and put a pound note into my hand and say go buy an ice cream. Happy we made the short descent back down to Granny’s House.
I became Supervisor in 2005. The Minogue family have been associated with the Rock for over 130 years.
Managing such a busy site can be a testing affair at times, even for the experience, but, within the confines of the most sacred of Irish historical sites, the majority are very pleasant ones.
I would like to conclude with a final piece from my Grandfather’s article and, reading it, you will understand the pride he and our family still have today working on the Rock of Cashel:
‘That’s my story as best I can tell it. Ah but I almost forgot. When next you pass Cashel I shall be resplendent in a uniform with a peaked shiny cap. If you cannot come, I would have you picture me against the background of my beloved Rock and the richest of lands in all Ireland thrown at my feet. The rich land runs till it meets the mountains whose names I know like a prayer – Slievenamon, the Comeraghs, the Galtees, Knockagreena, Devil’s Bit. Those landmarks are unchanged and unchangeable since Oliol Olum or Aengus stood and contemplated them from Cashel before breakfast. The Kings are dead. I guard them. In truth, I am the keeper of the Kings.’