Things to Do in Tipperary

Tipperary Town: The Town That Gave the County and the Song Its Name

A market town of about 5,400 people at the foot of Slievenamuck, famous far beyond its size for its name and for one song.

Tipperary town (Tiobraid Árann) is a market town of 5,387 people (2022 census) in the west of County Tipperary, on the N24 between Limerick and Waterford. It gave the county its name, and, by a quirk of Edwardian songwriting, it gave the English-speaking world one of its best-known marching tunes. It is not the county town, though; Clonmel and Nenagh are the county’s principal towns.

The name

The Irish name, Tiobraid Árann, ties the town to the River Ara, which rises at a well in the townland of Glenbane (Wikipedia). Tiobraid is the Irish word for a well, so the name is, in effect, “the well of the Ara”. The town grew into a population centre in the early thirteenth century, and its medieval fortifications have since disappeared. What you see today is mostly a later town: broad Main Street, a long run of shopfronts, and the hills never far away.

The song

“It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” has nothing to do with a journey to the town itself. According to Wikipedia, it was first performed in January 1912 at the Grand Theatre in Stalybridge, England, after Jack Judge took a five-shilling bet that he could write and sing a new song by the next night. He performed it on 31 January. Judge’s parents were Irish and his grandparents came from County Tipperary (Wikipedia).

It began as a sentimental ballad for Irish exiles in London. Bert Feldman published it in October 1912 and promoted it as a march, and British soldiers were singing it on the way to Mons in 1914. Authorship is disputed: Harry Williams is also credited, and his family says the tune and most of the words appear in an earlier 1909 manuscript, “It’s A Long Way to Connemara”. John McCormack’s recording helped carry it around the world.

Fittingly, the town has since tried to balance the association with war. The Tipperary International Peace Award, created by locals, has been given annually since 1984, when Seán MacBride was the first recipient. Later recipients include Mikhail Gorbachev (1988), Nelson Mandela (1989) and Malala Yousafzai (2012).

What to see in town

• Main Street. The town’s spine, and the place to start. The Maid of Erin statue, erected in 1907 to commemorate the Manchester Martyrs, stands on a corner site on Main Street after being moved there in 2003.
• The Memorial Arch. A large British Army barracks was built here between 1874 and 1878. Its restored Memorial Arch was unveiled by President Mary McAleese on 30 September 2005.
• Soloheadbeg. The first engagement of the War of Independence took place at Soloheadbeg Quarry, near the town, on 21 January 1919.
• Tipperary Racecourse. It is at Limerick Junction, a short distance outside.

“New Tipperary”

One episode deserves its own paragraph. In 1888–89, tenants of the landlord Arthur Smith Barry withheld rents in solidarity with tenants in County Cork and were evicted. Led by Fr David Humphreys and William O’Brien, they built a new town on land outside Barry’s control. The William O’Brien Arcade opened on 12 April 1890. A compromise was eventually reached, and the tenants returned to “Old Tipperary”.

The Glen of Aherlow on your doorstep

Tipperary town is the northern gateway to the Glen of Aherlow (Gleann Eatharlaí), a valley of about 13 km east to west and 3 km north to south, between Slievenamuck to the north and the Galtee Mountains to the south (Wikipedia). A statue of Christ the King, built in 1950, overlooks the valley from Slievenamuck on the approach road from Tipperary town. The English name is said to come from the Irish eatharlach, “land between elevations”. The main village is Lisvarrinane. Weather on the hills changes fast, so carry a map and a waterproof.

Getting there from Ardfinnan

Tipperary town is roughly 30 km from Ardfinnan, a drive of around half an hour or a little more, depending on route and traffic. Ardfinnan is itself a Norman castle on the Suir, worth seeing from the village bridge before you set out. If you want castles on the same trip, the castles of Tipperary hub covers Cahir, Cashel and beyond, and the wider Tipperary attractions section has more places to visit.

Distances are approximate. Check a route planner and local listings for opening times of any attraction before you travel.