Tipperary, County, is a landlocked county in the province of Munster in the Republic of Ireland. The largest of Ireland’s inland counties, County Tipperary is largely agricultural. Tipperary is well known because of the song “It’s a long way to Tipperary,” popular during World War I (1914-1918).
Most of the county’s people live in rural areas. The majority of the people of County Tipperary are Roman Catholic. Many non-Catholics belong to the Church of Ireland or have no religious affiliation.
The impressive Rock of Cashel, with its medieval church ruins, is one of the most popular historical sites in Ireland. Another important site is the Butler castle in Cahir. Holy Cross Abbey, near Thurles, was a Cistercian medieval monastery. Most of the larger towns of the county date from medieval times.
County Tipperary and County Dublin are the only Irish counties with two separate county councils apiece. Tipperary North and Tipperary South are the two county councils in County Tipperary. Nenagh and Clonmel are the administrative centers for northern Tipperary and southern Tipperary, respectively.
Economy.
Service industries are major providers of employment in County Tipperary. Public administration is important in the north, and catering and finance in the south. The leading service industry in the whole county is retail trade. The training center for the national police force, the Garda Siochana (Guardians of the Peace), is in Templemore.
The agricultural land in County Tipperary is generally fertile, though it is of poorer quality in the upland districts. Agriculture is most specialized in the southwest, where dairy farming is the main agricultural activity. Elsewhere, many farmers raise and fatten beef cattle. Sheep are grazed in the uplands, and there is also some horse breeding. Hog production is the most important kind of farming in the south.
Crops cover only about one-sixth of the farmland, mostly in the extreme south and north. Feed barley is the leading grain crop. Malting barley, used to produce alcoholic beverages, is grown in the north and wheat in the south. Sugar beets and potatoes are the main root crops. Turnips are grown as sheep fodder in the north.
Food processing is of major importance in County Tipperary’s manufacturing industries. Meat, milk, and milling industries developed out of the county’s farming activities. Modern engineering industries include the manufacture of electrical goods and fabricated metal products. Clonmel is the largest manufacturing center, with products that include cider, dairy products, leather, meat, pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, textiles, and wood products.
Mining was an important economic activity in County Tipperary for many years. Coal was mined at several sites in the Slieveardagh Hills. The county also has deposits of zinc, lead, and barytes, a mineral formed from barium sulfate. Mechanized peat production and peat briquette manufacturing took place near Thurles until the 2010’s. Foresters grow conifers and native woodland trees in upland areas.
The major railroads in County Tipperary are those linking Dublin with Cork and Limerick, and Limerick with Waterford. Limerick Junction, which is near Tipperary town, is Ireland’s second most important railroad junction after Dublin. The lines run to Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford.
Land.
County Tipperary has borders with Counties Laois and Kilkenny to the east, Counties Waterford and Cork to the south, Counties Limerick and Clare to the west, and Counties Galway and Offaly to the north. The greatest distances across County Tipperary are 65 miles (105 kilometers) from north to south and 44 miles (70 kilometers) from east to west.
County Tipperary consists of a lowland, above which rise separate upland areas. The lowland is mainly limestone covered by some peat bogs and material from the Ice Age, which ended about 11,500 years ago. The River Suir drains much of the land southward. Northern and western parts of the county drain toward the River Shannon and Lough Derg, which forms the northwestern boundary.
The upland areas are sandstone shale and slate. In the south are the Galty Mountains, which rise to 3,018 feet (920 meters); the Knockmealdown Mountains; and Slievenamon. In the east are the Slieveardagh Hills. In the west is the extensive Silvermine mountain system, which extends northeastward to Devilsbit Mountain and the Arra Mountains overlooking Lough Derg.
History.
There is a long history of human settlement in what is now County Tipperary. In 1980, people discovered the Derrynaflan hoard, a unique collection of ancient Irish altar vessels, on an island in a bog. There are also many castles and religious remains in the county.
County Tipperary was in the old Gaelic territories of Ormond and Thomond. The O’Briens and O’Kennedys were major Irish families of the region. After the Anglo-Norman invasion in the 1100’s, the de Burgo or Butler family, later earls of Ormond, dominated the region. Cashel was for a time the seat of the kings of Munster, and later became the religious capital of the province.
In the 1600’s, the British government granted lands in the county to settlers. The Great Irish Famine of the 1840’s resulted in the death or emigration of about one-fourth of the county’s population. The Gaelic Athletic Association, which promotes traditional Irish sports, was founded in Thurles in 1884.
