Tipperary

Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam.

Location and access
The town is situated on the N24 route between Limerick City and Waterford City. A railway station follows a line of the same route, but has an infrequent service. However, the nearby station of Limerick Junction has full services to Cork City and Dublin in addition to Limerick and Waterford. Tipperary railway station opened 9 May 1848.

Amenities
It is home to Tipperary Racecourse. It has a large agricultural catchment area in west Tipperary and east County Limerick and was historically a significant market town. Today, it still boasts large butter making and milk processing industries. The town is sometimes erroneously believed to be the county seat; this honour belongs instead to Clonmel.

History
In Irish, 'Tiobraid Árann' means 'The Well of the Arra' - a reference to the river which flows through the town. The well itself is located in the townland of Glenbane which is in the parish of Lattin and Cullen. This is where the river "Arra" rises. Little is known of the historical significance of the well.

The town is a medieval foundation and became a centre of population in the early 13th century. Its ancient fortifications have disappeared but its central area is characterized by a wide streets radiating from the principal thoroughfare of Main Street. There are two historical monuments in the Main Street, namely the bronze statue of Charles Kickham (poet and patriot) and the Maid of Erin statue erected to commemorate the Irish patriots, Allen, Larkin and O'Brien, who are collectively known as the Manchester Martyrs. The Maid of Erin is a freestanding monument, erected in 1907 it was relocated to a corner site on the main street from the centre of the main street in 2003. It is composed of carved limestone and the female figure stands on a base depicting the portraits of the three executed men. The portraits carry the names in Irish of each man. She is now situated on stone flagged pavement behind wrought-iron railings, with an information board. This memorial to the Manchester Martyrs is a landmark piece of sculpture now located in a prominent corner site. The choice of a female figure for such a memorial has been seen as the personification of Ireland, fused with the Virgin Mary, as Irish identity during that era was tied up with Catholicism. It is a naturalistic and evocative piece of work, made all the more striking by the life-like portraits of the executed men.

The first engagement of the Irish War of Independence took place at nearby Solloghead Beg quarry on 19 January 1919 when Dan Breen and Seán Treacy led a group of volunteers in an attack on members of the Royal Irish Constabulary who were transporting gelignite.

The town was the site of a large military barracks of the British Army in the 50 years before Irish Independence and served as a military hospital during World War I. During the War of Independence, it played a pivotal role as a base from which the Black and Tans went on local sorties in their campaign of terror against the people of the town and district. On 30 September 2005, Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, in a gesture of reconciliation, unveiled the newly refurbished Memorial Arch of the barracks in the presence of several ambassadors and foreign emissaries, military attachés and town dignitaries; a detachment of the Local Defence Force, the Number 1 Irish Army Band and various ex-service organisations paraded. In a rare appearance, the Royal Munster Fusiliers banner was carried to mark the occasion. However, given the notoriety of the place in the folk memory, there was only a small representation of townspeople in attendance. The Arch is the only remaining porch of what was the Officers mess and has panels mounted bearing the names of fallen members of the Irish Defence Forces (on United Nations service), and American, Australian and United Kingdom armed services.

Famous people from Tipperary
Australian bushranger Ned Kelly's father, John, was from Tipperary. In 1840, John 'Red' Kelly, then aged 21, stole two pigs ('value about six pounds') and was transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) for 7 years.

Seán Treacy died in a shoot-out with British soldiers in Talbot Street, Dublin in October 1920.

Alan Quinlan the Munster Rugby player was born in Tipperary in 1974. (Limerick Leader, 2010). retrieved 2010-10-06

In song
Welcoming signs on roads entering the town quip "You've come a long way..." in reference to the World War I-era song written by Englishmen Harry Williams and Jack Judge (whose grandparents came from Tipperary) "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", which became popular among the British military as a marching song. The U.S. Army, also at this time, included a song by John Alden Carpenter called The Home Road in its official 1918 song book which includes the lyric, "For the long, long road to Tipperary is the road that leads me home." A song of remembrance is "Tipperary so far away" which commemorates one of its famous sons, Seán Treacy (see above). In an address to the people of Ballyporeen on 3 June 1984, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, quoted a line from this famous song--" And I'll never more roam, from my own native home, in Tipperary so far away." There are other songs also with a Tipperary theme such as "Tipperary On My Mind"; "Goodbye Mick"; "Galtee Mountain Boy"; "Katy Daly" (actually an American song) and "Forty Shades of Green", written by Johnny Cash.

Gary Moore's Song "Business as Usual" tells about him and his love: "I lost my virginity to a Tipperary woman." On Seventy Six The Band's 2006 release Gone Is Winter, the song "Carry On" also states that it is "a long way to Tipperary." Shane MacGowan's song "Broad Majestic Shannon" includes the lyric "Heard the men coming home from the fair at Shinrone, their hearts in Tipperary wherever they go".