County Tipperary
County Tipperary (Irish: Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland. It is Ireland's largest inland county and shares a border with eight counties, more than any other. The population of the county was 167,895 at the 2022 census.[3] The largest towns are Clonmel, Nenagh and Thurles.
County Tipperary
Contae Thiobraid Árann
1328
1838
2014
4,305 km2 (1,662 sq mi)
918 m (3,012 ft)
167,895
39/km2 (100/sq mi)
051, 0504, 0505, 052, 062, 067 (primarily)
Tipperary County Council is the local authority for the county. In 1838, County Tipperary was divided into two ridings, North and South. From 1899 until 2014, they had their own county councils. They were unified under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, which came into effect following the 2014 local elections on 3 June 2014.[4]
Local government and politics[edit]
Following the 2014 local election, Tipperary County Council is the local authority for the county. The authority is the successor council to North Tipperary County Council and South Tipperary County Council which operated up until June 2014. The local authority is responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and development, libraries, the collection of motor taxation, local roads and social housing.
Most of the county is in the Dáil constituency of Tipperary, which returns five deputies (TDs) to the Dáil. A small part of the county in the former rural district of Nenagh is in the constituency of Limerick City.[21] The county is part of the South constituency for European elections.
Irish language[edit]
There is no Gaeltacht in County Tipperary and consequently few Irish speakers. Nevertheless, there are five Gaelscoileanna (Irish language primary schools) and two Gaelcholáistí (Irish language secondary schools).[23]
Economy[edit]
The area around Clonmel is the economic hub of the county, due to manufacturing facilities owned by Bulmers (brewers) and Merck & Co. (pharmaceuticals) east of the town. There is much fertile land, especially in the region known as the Golden Vale, one of the richest agricultural areas in Ireland.
Tipperary is famous for its horse breeding industry and is the home of Coolmore Stud, the largest thoroughbred breeding operation in the world.[24]
Tourism plays a significant role in County Tipperary – Lough Derg, Thurles, Rock of Cashel, Ormonde Castle, Ahenny High Crosses, Cahir Castle, Bru Boru Heritage Centre and Tipperary Crystal are some of the primary tourist destinations in the county.
Sports[edit]
County Tipperary has a strong association with the Gaelic Athletic Association, which was founded in Thurles in 1884. Tipperary GAA – a county board of the GAA – organizes local competitions for hurling, Gaelic football, camogie and handball. The board also enters county representative teams into the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Tipperary is the only county across any Gaelic game to have won an all-Ireland title in every decade since the 1880s. Hurling has traditionally been the county's dominant sport, however, with its hurling team having won 28 All-Ireland titles in comparison to the football team's four. Tipperary has the third-highest All-Ireland tally of any county hurling team, behind only Kilkenny and Cork.
Horse racing takes place at Tipperary Racecourse, Thurles Racecourse and Clonmel Racecourse.