Rooks of Cashel

The Rock of Cashel, or St Patrick's Rock, is a fortified cathedral in the middle of Tipperary. We came across this gem at the end of our first day's driving through the Irish countryside. The cathedral itself was fascinating, but I have to admit that whilst there I spent a fair proportion of my time watching the flock of playful rooks that make it their home (actually, looking up the collective noun, it's technically a building, clamour, congregation, pack, parliament or shoal of rooks... I like clamour, given the constant, if not unpleasant, noise they make).

A game they seemed to have endless enthusiasm for was one in which a rook would sit in one of the holes in the cathedral wall with it's head poked out, holding enticingly in it's beak a tasty morsel - in this case a hunk of bread. Other rooks would then launch themselves from hiding places against the wall, as below, in an attempt to surprise their compatriat (clamour-mate?) and steal away the tasty prize. The whole thing was accompanied by their peculiar squawking, and their antics lent quite a sense of character to the otherwise fairly grim location.