County Tipperary

Our cottages situated in this county take advantage of its landscape and many varying features.

Tipperary, Irish Tiobraid Árann (“House of the Well of Ara”), geographic county in the province of Munster, south-central Ireland, occupying a broad strip of country between the Rivers Shannon and Suir. It is bounded by Counties Offaly and Laoighis (north), Kilkenny (east), Waterford and Cork (south), and Limerick, Clare, and Galway (west). The geographic county is now divided administratively into a North and a South Riding (called North Tipperary and South Tipperary), with the county towns (seats) at Nenagh and Clonmel, respectively; each riding has a county manager.

England’s Prince (later King) John gave land in 1185 in southern Tipperary to Philip de Worcester and in northern Tipperary to Theobald Walter, who was created chief butler (or botiller) of Ireland; thus were founded the fortunes of the Butler family. In 1328 Edward III made Tipperary a county palatine in favour of the earls of Ormonde, the title of the Butler family, and throughout the late Middle Ages the earls of Ormonde were in the forefront of Irish politics. With the impeachment of the second duke in 1715, the palatine jurisdiction of Tipperary, the last of its kind in Ireland, was abolished. The Rock of Cashel, the seat of the kings of Munster, with its limestone outcrop and medieval ruins, is among the most important archaeological sites in Ireland. Area North Tipperary, 790 square miles (2,046 square km); South Tipperary, 871 square miles (2,258 square km). 

Tipperary is Irelands largest inland county and lies at the heart of Irish farming with gentle hills and richly fertile river valleys. The town of Thurles is North Tipperary's largest town and makes an ideal base for visiting the impressive Cistercian Holy Cross Abbey.

See the beautifully restored chapels and cloister, the eye-catching fleur-de-lis symbols carved on the old stone pillars and the medieval fresco.

The Slieve Bloom Mountains, north-east of the town of Roscrea, offer an attractive unspoilt landscape of open vistas, wooded glens and mountain streams. The broad expanse of Lough Derg in the north-east of the county offers excellent boating and angling opportunities. Nenagh Castle in the town of Nenagh dates from the 13th century and was the seat of the first butler of Ireland. The town's interesting heritage centre is also well worth a visit.