Cormac's Chapel, Rock of Cashel (Tipperary)


A negative version of Ireland's only column-swallower.


High up on another capital is this fine carving. Because the frond on the right so resembles fingers,
I mistook this figure for a '
mouth-puller'.

 

The tympanum above the door :
Satan (the Beast) is threatened by a Christian centaur-sagittarius
and a little biting creature at his rump, while another attacks his belly.



A view of the exterior of Cormac's Chapel.

photo by Ian Thompson