It's a Long way to Tipperary

By Brendan Mulvey

‘Rock of Cashel’ The Large Cathedral and Ancient Round Tower perched on a dramatic outcrop of rock

In this edition I would like to take you on a short tour of Tipperary.
The World War 1 Song “It's a Long Way to Tipperary” has been sung in pubs and stages all over the world, it was not a long drive for my passengers and myself as we had just left Kilkenny, which I wrote about in The Harp last month.
Tipperary is steeped in heritage and history, it is famous for hurling and traditional music and some of Ireland's finest Racehorses are bred and trained in the county. Some of the most breathtaking scenery in The South East can be found in the county. There are several natural amenities, including the three enormous caverns that make up Mitchelstown Cave, the stunning Glen of Aherlow and the Lee Valley.

Templemore - Thurles - Cashel

We stayed overnight in Templemore, The Garda training college is situated here, the site of the college was once an English Army Barracks, then it was taken over by The Irish Army and in 1964 the Garda College moved from Dublin's Phoenix Park to the completely refurbished barracks. The town is also famous for its seventy-acre parks with its lovely lake and the locals told us it's a great lake for trout fishing.
We moved on to Thurles and stopped for refreshment at Hayes Hotel, it was here that the Gaelic Athletic Association was formed in 1884. The town owes its development to the Norman Butlers, Edward 111 created James Butler as Earl of Desmond in 1328. To this day two of the original family fortresses remain in the town. We then visited Holy Cross Abbey, which is a short drive from the town; King Donal Mor O'Brien founded the Abbey in 1180. It was renovated and extended in the 15th century and became a place of pilgrimage, the relic of the Holy Cross was presented to the Cistercian Monks who ministered at the abbey.
Next stop was the town of Cashel, the town is dominated by the famous “Rock of Cashel”, we made a visit to the rock, there we found a fine collection of early Christian and Medieval buildings, including a fine Cathedral and a Round Tower. This was once the seat of the Kings of Munster; St Patrick is known to have preached from the rock in the 5th Century. Brian Boru was crowned King of Ireland here in the 11th century.
We were given a guided tour of the Rock and its buildings; we also visited the nearby Bru Boru Cultural centre where we viewed an audio-visual display. They have a fine restaurant and craft shop. We finished off our tour in the town's Heritage Centre, this is one of Ireland's most significant Ecclesiastical Centres dating back before St Patrick. It features changing exhibitions and a large-scale model of Cashel in the 1640's, highlighting the lesser-known treasures of the town.

Clonmel - Cahir

After an action packed day it was off to Clonmel for our overnight stay. We had a lovely night in our hotel and after a leisurely breakfast it was off on foot to explore the town, which has a rich historical past, this includes the well-preserved town walls; the Town Hall is a fine building as is the Franciscan Friary. We made a visit to the South Tipperary County Museum, which boasts displays from pre historic times. Charles Bianconi from Italy set up his horse drawn carriage company in the town; in 1815 he began a regular run between the town and Cahir. The famous Bulmer's Cider Company has been in the town for many years. After a few hours exploring it was time to board the coach and set off to Cahir. On arrival in the town our first stop was at Cahir Castle, it is a fine imposing 13th - 15th century structure which was well designed for its day as a state of the art defensive castle. It is located mid river on an outcrop of rock, the skill of the builders is amazing as they used every last foot of rock on the island to construct this fine building. We had an excellent guide and our visit also included an audio-visual presentation. We also paid a visit to Swiss Cottage, this is a magnificent sight, it is a truly fairytale rustic coloured cottage, inside there is a fine spiral staircase and all the rooms are elegantly decorated. We then drove along the N8 to Mitchelstown Cave, which we were told is one of the most spectacular caves in Europe. Our guide took us just under a half mile to view the three massive caverns, the formations, shapes and colours and the history of the caves had all my party absolutely stunned, the access to the caves is quite easy and the passageways are well lit.

Bansha - Tipperary Town

We set off back towards Cahir and then on for Tipperary Town taking in the magnificent beauty of “The Glen of Aherlow”. This is a Sixteen-mile stretch taking in some of the finest scenery in the county. The Glen sits between the Galtee Mountains on the south side and Slievenamuck Ridge to the north side. We stopped for a while in the beautiful village of Bansha, it is here one of Ireland's best-loved singers lives. Louise Morrissey was a member of the famous Irish Folk Group “The Morrissey's”, when the folk group stopped touring Louise formed her own band, she has achieved great success in both Ireland and overseas, she has toured England on a regular basis and also visits the USA, Canada and The Middle East, She went to the Lebanon in 1994 and spent some time entertaining the peace keeping troops. She has also toured with Charlie Pride, Foster & Allen and Dominic Kirwan.
Just north of the “Glen of Aherlow” is Tipperary Town, which stands on the River Ara. We stopped off at the Excel Heritage centre, a very clever audio-visual system enabled us to trace the long history of the county, from its 12th century Anglo Norman settlements to its contribution in the war of independence. The centre also houses two cinemas, a modern theatre, a craft shop and a Family History Research Facility.
It was another long day touring but a day of ever changing scenery, after our visit to Tipperary Town it was then off to Limerick City for our overnight stay, we only touched part of this great county, we were very impressed with the people we met, our hotels and everywhere we visited. The County has a lot to offer the visitor.
Finally I would like to congratulate Bob Brolly on a wonderful fundraiser at The Ricoh Arena in Coventry, it was nice to meet so many of my friends once again.
Also something for your diaries for 2008, you may recall I wrote about Mid West Radio's Magnificent Challenge back in July, Tommy Marron one of the presenters at the station wrote a fantastic play called “The Banshee of Crokey Hill”, the play has been sold out at all the venues where it has been performed in the West of Ireland, on Friday Night February 8th and Saturday Night 9th the play will be performed at South Birmingham College, so hopefully I will be meeting up with you all again.
Finally make I take this opportunity to wish all the readers of The Harp a Happy and Peaceful Christmas and Good Wishes for 2008.
Until the next time its Goodbye and God Bless from the Hills of Sligo.