Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tipperary (1.)

TIPPERARY, an inland county of Ireland, in the pro vince of Munster, is bounded N.W. by Galway, N.E. by King's county, E. by Queen's County and Kilkenny, S. by Waterford, and W. by Cork, Limerick, Clare, and Galway. Its greatest length north to south, from the confluence of the Little Brosna and the Shannon to the Knockmealdown Mountains, is 70 miles, and its greatest breadth west and east 40. The area is 1,061,731 acres, or about 1659 square miles.

The surface is extremely varied and picturesque. The Knockmealdown Mountains on the southern border (2609 feet) are principally of clay slate formation. To the north of this range are the picturesque Galtees, composed of Silurian strata overlaid by Old Red Sandstone (Galtymore 3015 feet). To the east, bordering Kilkenny, are the Slieveardagh Hills, composed of coalstone shales and sand stones, and near Templemore the Devil's Bit Mountains, with a curious gap on the summit. In the north-west there is a Silurian and sandstone group (Keeper Hill 2265 feet). The greater part of the county is a gently undulating plain, belonging to the central Carboniferous limestone plain of Ireland. From the rich level country the rock of Cashel, also composed of limestone, rises with great boldness and abruptness. Tipperary has only one river, the Suir, which has its source in the Devil's Bit Mountains, and flows south wards by Templemore, Thurles, Caher, and Clonmel. The Nore, which also rises in the Devil's Bit Mountains, soon passes into Queen's county, and the Shannon forms part of the western border. A spur of the Leinster coal-field, the most important in Ireland, runs into Tipperary, extend ing to Cashel, a distance of 20 miles with an average breadth of 5 miles. All the measures are represented. The productive portion of the field is at Killenaule. It consists of a narrow trough ranging in a north-east direction, the beds dipping towards the axis at a high angle. The coal is anthracite and the seams are thin, the workable portion being of limited extent. In the lower measures, are marine fossils, and plant impressions are numerous. Copper is obtainable at Lackamore and at Hollyford near Thurles, but only in small quantities. There is a vein of lead at Shallee, and zinc has recently been dug in consider able quantities at Silvermines on the north side of the Keeper Mountains. Manganese, malachite, galena, and barytes are also obtainable. There are slate quarries at Killaloe. Between Caher and Clonmel are extensive de posits of fine pipe -clay. The Mitch elstown stalactite caverns, discovered accidentally in 1833, attract a large number of visitors.

Agriculture.-Tipperary ranks among the best agricultural districts of Ireland. The subsoil in the lower grounds is limestone, which is overlaid by a rich calcareous loam, capable of yielding the finest crops. The centre of the county is occupied by the Golden Vale, the most fertile district in Ireland, which stretches from Cashel to the town of Limerick. On the higher districts the soil is light and thin, partaking much of the character of the clay slate and sands on which it rests. Detached portions of the Bog of Allen encroach on the north-eastern parts of the county. The total number of holdings in 1885 was 23,763, of which 14,369 were under 30 acres in extent,—4841 between 15 and 30 acres, 4444 between 5 and 15, 2861 between 1 and 5, and 2223 less than 1 acre. Of the total area 24·8 per cent, was under crops, including meadow and clover, 57·9 under grass, ·1 fallow, 2·5 plantations, 4·9 bog and marsh, 6·4 barren mountain land, and 3·4 water, roads, fences, &c. The area under corn crops decreased from 85,883 acres in 1876 to 73,753 in 1885, the decrease having taken place since 1882, the areas in the previous years having been remarkably uniform. The area under wheat decreased from 13,423 acres in 1882 to 5474 in 1885, and that of oats from 57,332 to 50,196. But the area under barley, for which distillation causes a steady demand, rose from 13,551 acres in 1876 to 17,998 in 1885. The area under green crops manifests also a tendency to decrease; the total area in 1885 was 58,833 acres, 33,042 being under potatoes, 19,196 turnips, 2096 mangolds and beetroot, and 4499 other green crops. The area under meadow and clover has been steadily increasing, being 114,149 in 1876 and 127,478 in 1885. The total number of horses in 1885 was 27,365, of which 17,173 were used for agriculture; the number of cattle 254,488, of which 80,508 were milch cows, the manufacture of butter occupying considerable attention; of sheep 203,798, pigs 80,475, goats 13,011, and poultry 681,239. According to the latest landowners Return (1876), the county was divided among 237*2 proprietors owning 1,042,457 acres of an annual value of 676,683, the average value of the land being nearly 13s. per acre. The following possessed upwards of 10,000 acres each: Viscount Lismore, 34,945; Lord Dunalley, 21,081; G. K. S. M. Dawson, 19,093; Lady Margaret Charteris, 16,617; marquis of Ormonde, 15,765; Viscount Hawarden, 15,272; N. Buckley, 13,260; earl of Clonmel, 11,098; and A. Moore, 10,200.

Manufactures.—A few persons are employed in mining, but the occupation of the inhabitants is chiefly agricultural. There are a considerable number of meal and flour mills.

Railways.—The county is remarkably well supplied with railways. A branch of the Great Southern and Western runs from Roscrea to Nenagh, where it joins a branch of the Limerick and Waterford, which in its progress south-eastwards from Limerick crosses the southern corner of the county by Limerick Junction, Tipperary, Caher, and Clonmel. The main line of the Great Southern and Western to Cork and Killarney crosses the centre of the county by Templemore, Thurles, and Limerick Junction. A branch of the Limerick and Waterford connects Thurles with Clonmel.

Administration and Population.—Tipperary is divided into a north and south riding, each consisting of six baronies. For parliamentary purposes it is separated into four divisions East, Mid, North, and South each returning one member. It contains 193 parishes and 3253 town lands. It is in the Leinster circuit. Assizes for the north riding are held in Nenagh and for the south riding in Clonmel. Quarter sessions are held at Cashel, Clonmel, Nenagh, Roscrea, Thurles, and Tipperary. There are twenty-four petty sessions districts and parts of six others. The county is within the Cork military district. Ecclesiastically it belongs to the dioceses of Cashel, Emly, Killaloe, and Lismore. Since 1841 the population has decreased more than one-half. From 435,553 in that year it fell to 216,718 in 1871 and to 199,612 in 1881. The following towns in 1881 possessed over 4000 inhabitants each, viz. Clonmel (partly in Waterford), 9325; Tipperary, 7274; Carrick-on-Suir (partly in Waterford), 6583; Nenagh, 5422; and Thurles, 4850. The number of persons who could read and write was 115,185, who could read only, 24,386; the remainder 60,041 were unable to read or write. There were 248 persons who spoke Irish only and 23,558 able to speak Irish as well as English.

History and Antiquities.—Anciently Tipperary was included in the territory of the Tuatha De Danaun, and afterwards probably of the clan of Degaid. Henry II., who landed at Waterford in October 1172, received at Cashel the homage of Donald O Brien, king of Thomond. It was made a county by King John in 1210; in 1328 Edward III. made it a county palatine in favour of the earl of Ormonde; and, though the king shortly afterwards resumed his regal prerogative, the county was regranted in 1337. In 1372 the grant was confirmed to James, second earl of Ormonde, the lands belonging to the church retaining, however, a separate jurisdiction, a division which continued till the Restoration. In 1617 James I. took the county palatine into his own hands. It was, however, restored in 1661 to James, twelfth earl and first duke, whose regalities were further made to include the portions of the county formerly under ecclesiastical jurisdiction. On the attainder of James, second duke, in 1715 the jurisdiction reverted to the crown. There are two round towers within the county, one at Roscrea and the other on the rock of Cashel. Of the old castles there are few important examples. That built by the first earl of Ormonde at Thurles has now disappeared. On the rock of Cashel there are a massive guard tower and some remains of the ancient wall. The stronghold of Caher, now occupied as a barrack, is still in good preservation. At Roscrea one of the towers of the castle built by King John still remains, and the stronghold of the Ormondes, erected in the reign of Henry VIII., forms the depot attached to the barracks. The ecclesiastical ruins on the rock of Cashel are among the most remarkable in Ireland. They consist of a cathedral in the Pointed style of the 13th century, partly destroyed by fire in 1495; a curious Saxon chapel, ascribed to Cormac MacCullinan, archbishop of Cashel (b. 831); the bishop's palace; the "vicar's choral-house," all on the summit of the rock; and Hore abbey at its foot, founded for Benedictines in 1272. The abbey of Holy Cross was founded in 1182 for Cistercian monks, and is one of the finest monastic ruins in Ireland. The relic of the true cross, from which the abbey takes its name, is in possession of the Catholic hierarchy of the district. The other principal ecclesiastical ruins are the priory of Athassel, founded for Augustinian monks about 1200; Fethard abbey, founded in the 14th century, now used as a chapel; the gable and porch of the abbey of Roscrea, founded by St Cronan in the 7th century; and a portion of the Franciscan friary founded in the same town in 1490.