A limestone outcrop rising straight out of the Tipperary plain, crowned by a round tower from around 1100, a frescoed Romanesque chapel, a roofless Gothic cathedral and rows of high crosses in the grass. The kings of Munster held court here before handing the rock to the Church in 1101, and tradition says St Patrick baptised Ireland's first Christian king on this spot. On a windy day under low cloud there is nowhere more Irish.