Things to Do in Tipperary

Carrick-on-Suir: Ormond Castle, the Clancy Brothers and a Town on Two Counties

Carrick-on-Suir straddles the Suir and two counties, and has given Ireland an Elizabethan manor house, a folk-music dynasty and a world-ranked cyclist.

Carrick-on-Suir is a town of 5,752 people (2022 census) on both banks of the River Suir, in the south-east of County Tipperary. Its Irish name, Carraig na Siúire, means “rock of the Suir”. It lies about 21 km east of Clonmel and 27 km north-west of Waterford, and the river doubles as a county boundary: the south bank is in County Waterford, in the civil parish of Kilmolerin. Few towns this size can claim an Elizabethan manor, a folk group that reached forty million television viewers and a record-holding professional cyclist.

Ormond Castle

The main sight is Ormond Castle, run by the OPW as a Heritage Ireland site. Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond, built a Tudor manor house in 1565, joined onto an earlier medieval riverside castle, in honour of his distant cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Heritage Ireland calls it the finest example of an Elizabethan manor house in Ireland.

The great hall stretches almost the full length of the building and carries stucco plasterwork with portraits of Elizabeth and her brother Edward VI, along with Tudor royal emblems. Visits are by guided tour, and there are audiovisual displays and an exhibition on the castle’s history. There is a spiral staircase, so wear sensible footwear. Hours and booking are on heritageireland.ie. The castle stands in Castle Park, off Castle Street. For the wider picture of Tipperary’s fortified houses, see our Tipperary castles section.

The Old Bridge and the river

A stone bridge was built here in 1447 and is now known as the Old Bridge; a later bridge, completed in 1880, was renamed after John Dillon. Walking the river between the two is the easiest way to understand why the town grew on this crossing, and why the line between Tipperary and Waterford runs through it. The former Church of Ireland building on Main Street has been renovated and now serves as a heritage centre.

The Clancy Brothers

Paddy, Tom and Liam Clancy were from Carrick-on-Suir; their brother Bobby is also listed among the family’s musicians. With Tommy Makem of Keady, Co. Armagh, they formed in the New York folk scene and were active from 1956 to 1998. On 12 March 1961 they played about fifteen minutes on the Ed Sullivan Show to a reported audience of forty million, and their Aran sweaters became their trademark. Their 1963 album In Person at Carnegie Hall reached the US top 50, which Wikipedia calls unprecedented for an Irish folk recording.

In a 1984 interview with Bono, Bob Dylan said the Clancys “influenced me tremendously” and called Liam Clancy his favourite ballad singer. Liam, the last surviving brother, died on 4 December 2009, aged 74.

Seán Kelly and a cycling town

The cyclist Seán Kelly comes from the townland of Curraghduff, near Carrick-on-Suir. He won the 1988 Vuelta a España and the Vuelta points classification four times, took Paris–Nice seven years running from 1982 to 1988, and won Milan–San Remo in 1986 and 1992 and the Tour of Lombardy in 1983, 1985 and 1991. When the rankings began in March 1984 he became the first cyclist ranked world number one, and held the position for a record five consecutive years. A later Carrick cyclist, Sam Bennett, is a ten-time Grand Tour stage winner.

Other names

Wikipedia also lists Maurice Davin, the first president of the GAA, Tom Kiely, the 1904 Olympic decathlon gold medallist, and the diarist Dorothea Herbert among the town’s notable people.

The Comeraghs to the south

Across the Waterford side the Comeragh Mountains are a glaciated range whose inland edge reaches the Tipperary border. The highest peak is Fauscoum at 792 m, Coumshingaun is described as one of the deepest glacial coums in Europe, and the 80 m Mahon Falls are popular with walkers. Start times and routes are best checked locally, and take proper boots and a waterproof, as in any Irish hills.

Carrick-on-Suir from Ardfinnan

Carrick-on-Suir is about 35 km from Ardfinnan, around 40 minutes by road, following the Suir downstream through Clonmel. Ardfinnan is itself a Norman castle on the river, worth seeing from the village bridge. Combine the two for a day tracing the Suir, with Clonmel as the halfway stop, or see more in things to do near Ardfinnan.