Things to Do in Tipperary

Nenagh: North Tipperary's Castle Town on the Edge of Lough Derg

A busy north Tipperary town, built around a thirteenth-century keep that is still one of the finest of its kind in Ireland.

Nenagh (Aonach Urmhumhan, “the fair of Ormond”) is the largest town in north Tipperary, with 9,895 people at the 2022 census. Its centrepiece is a Norman round keep more than 30 m high. Nearby, the old county gaol now holds a heritage centre, and Lough Derg, one of the big lakes on the Shannon, is about 9 km away at Dromineer.

The name and the Ormond country

Wikipedia gives the Irish name as Aonach Urmhumhan, often glossed as “the Fair of Ormond”, or simply An tAonach, “the Fair”. The town lies in the barony of Ormond Lower, historically the territory of the O’Kennedys before the Norman arrival. Nenagh hosted the East Munster Ormond Fair, and the Butlers held the manor. The Butler title of Ormond is the reason that name turns up across the area (Wikipedia).

Nenagh Castle

The keep is the thing to see. It is a circular Norman keep built around 1200 by Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler, and completed by his son, Theobald le Botiller, around 1220. It stands over 30 m high on a base about 16 m across, and Wikipedia calls it “one of the finest of its kind in Ireland” (Wikipedia).

Not all of what you see is medieval. In 1861, at the urging of Bishop Michael Flannery, a crown of crenellations and a ring of clerestory windows were added, because the keep was meant to serve as the bell tower of a Pugin-designed cathedral that was never built. The Butlers moved their main seat to Gowran in County Kilkenny in the fourteenth century. The castle then changed hands several times in the 1640s and 1650s, and surrendered after a short siege in 1650. It was renovated between 2009 and 2013 and is now open to the public.

Nenagh Heritage Centre

The old county gaol stood on the edge of the town. The octagonal governor’s residence survives and so does the gatehouse, and together they house the Nenagh & District Heritage Centre on Kickham Street. Wikipedia notes that only one jail block survives intact. The centre’s exhibits cover the evolution of the town and the lives of its past inhabitants (Discover Lough Derg). Opening and tour arrangements change, so contact the Nenagh Tourist Office before you go.

More to see in town

• The friary. A Franciscan friary was founded here in 1252 and, per Wikipedia, was one of Ireland’s richest religious houses, in use for about 600 years. Its remains are still there.
• Tyone. The Butlers also founded a priory and hospital of St John the Baptist at Tyone, on the edge of town.
• Nenagh Courthouse (1843) and St Mary’s of the Rosary church (1895, neo-Gothic) give the centre its Victorian character, and the Arts Centre is in the former Town Hall of 1895.
• History in passing. Patrick Sarsfield burned the town in 1688, and Nenagh became the administrative capital of North Tipperary in 1838.

Rugby and the modern town

Nenagh is also a sporting town. Nenagh Ormond RFC is described by Wikipedia as the first rugby club in County Tipperary to gain senior status, promoted to the third division of the AIB League in 2005, and has produced several full Irish internationals. The town’s hospital, St Joseph’s, is the only general hospital in north Tipperary, and the M7 motorway bypasses the town with access to Limerick and Dublin, which is why Nenagh feels more like a regional hub than a day-tripper’s village. Come for the keep, stay for the market-town atmosphere.

Lough Derg at Dromineer

The Nenagh River flows into Lough Derg at Dromineer, about 9 km north-west of the town. It is a centre for sailing and other water sports. If you have a free half-day, the lake is the natural pairing for the castle.

A longer trip from Ardfinnan

Be realistic: Nenagh is a long way north. It is roughly 85 km from Ardfinnan, about an hour and a quarter by road each way, so treat it as a full day rather than an afternoon. Ardfinnan itself is a Norman castle on the Suir, best viewed from the village bridge. For other keeps in the county, see the castles of Tipperary, where Nenagh sits alongside Cahir, Roscrea and others.

Distances are approximate. Check opening times with the venues before travelling.