The jewel of Cashel was built between 1127 and 1134 by Cormac MacCarthy. In elaborate Romanesque style, it is flanked by two towers. Inside is one of Ireland’s oldest wall paintings. Each stone here is embellished by sculpture, the finest of the period in Ireland; Human faces, animals depicted in the purest Celtic tradition. On a sarcophagus is carved interlace decoration entirely Viking in inspiration. A centaur threatens a lion from his arch in the tympanum over the north door.