County Tipperary

County Tipperary
Contae Thiobraid Árann
Coat of arms of County Tipperary
Location
Map highlighting County Tipperary
Statistics
Province: Munster
County seat: North: Nenagh
South: Clonmel
Code: North: TN
South: TS
Area: 4,303 km2 (1,661 sq mi) (6th)
Population (2006) 149,040 (11th) [1]

County Tipperary (Irish: Contae Thiobraid Árann) is one of the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland and one of the 32 counties of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster. It was named after the town of Tipperary (Irish: Tiobraid Árann).

Tipperary is the sixth largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 11th largest in population[1]. It is the third largest of Munster’s 6 counties in size and the third largest in population.

Tipperary was one of the first Irish counties to be established in the 13th century. For all government administrative purposes the county is divided into North Tipperary (county town: Nenagh) and South Tipperary (county town: Clonmel). This division dates back to the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, the county's two "ridings" having had separate assize courts for much longer. The use of riding for the divisions was a historical misnomer, since the word derives from the dividing of an area into three parts. The expression "riding" has been discontinued for official purposes since 2002 (Local Government Act, 2001 section 10 and schedule 5).

Contents

Geography

The region is part of the central plain of Ireland, but the diversified terrain contains by several mountain ranges: the Knockmealdown, the Galtee, the Arra, and the Silvermine. The southern portion of the county is drained by the Suir River; the northern by tributaries of the Shannon , which widens into Lough Derg on the northern border. Tipperary is Ireland's largest landlocked county.

The centre of County Tipperary is known as 'the Golden Vale', a rich pastoral stretch of land in the basin of the River Suir, which crosses the county from north to south.

Towns and villages

Townlands

Culture

Tipperary is sometimes referred to as the "Premier County", a description attributed to Thomas Davis, Editor of The Nation newspaper in the 1840s as a tribute to the nationalistic feeling in Tipperary and said that "where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows". Tipperary is famous for its horse breeding industry and is the home of Coolmore Stud, the largest thoroughbred breeding operation in the world. The county forms a large part of the Golden Vale (or Vein) of Munster, boasting a rich and fertile agricultural landscape.

Economy

The area around Clonmel is the economic hub of the county: Bulmers operate a brewery plant west of Clonmel, and west of Clonmel is the chemical factory of Merck & Co.. There is much fertile land, especially in the region known as the Golden Vale, one of the richest agricultural areas in Ireland. Dairy farming and cattle raising are the principal occupations. Other industries are slate quarrying and the manufacture of meal and flour.

Tourism plays a significant role in County Tipperary - Lough Derg, Thurles, Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Bru Boru Heritage Centre and Tipperary Crystal are some of the primary tourist destinations in the county.

Transport

Road transport dominates in County Tipperary. The M8 motorway, which bisects the county from north of Two-Mile Borris to the County Limerick border, is one of the busiest roads on the island. The Limerick to Dublin N7 national primary route crosses the north of the county and the Limerick to Waterford N24 crosses the southern half of Tipperary, travelling through Tipperary Town, Bansha, north of Cahir and around Clonmel. Tipperary also has a number or railway stations situated on the Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Limerick rail lines.

Sports

County Tipperary has a strong sporting history and is home to the Gaelic Games of Hurling, Gaelic football, Camogie and Handball. It nurtures the ancient game of hurling and since the 19th century its teams have regularly been champions of Ireland.

In popular culture

The town of Tipperary situated in the south west of the county was the subject of the famous World War I British Army song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".

County anthem

The song Slievenamon, which is traditionally associated with the county, is common at Gaelic Athletic Association fixtures involving the county.[8]

Places of interest

See also

References

  1. ↑ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 186–191. 
  2. ↑ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy March 14, 1865.
  3. ↑ Census for post 1821 figures.
  4. ↑ http://www.histpop.org
  5. ↑ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
  6. ↑ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 
  7. ↑ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract. 
  8. ↑ http://www.irishpage.com/songs/slevmoan.htm

External links

Counties of Ireland
Connacht
Ireland counties.jpg
Munster

Clare · Cork (Cork City) · Kerry · Limerick (Limerick City) · Tipperary (North Tipperary • South Tipperary) · Waterford (Waterford City)
Leinster

Carlow · Dublin (Dublin City • Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown • Fingal • South Dublin) · Kildare · Kilkenny · Laois · Longford · Louth · Meath · Offaly · Westmeath · Wexford · Wicklow
Ulster

Antrim† · Armagh† · Cavan · Fermanagh† · Londonderry† · Donegal · Down† · Monaghan · Tyrone†
Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties. † denotes counties of Northern Ireland