Historic town

The National Monuments Service's description

On a ridge, on the junction of the Limerick-Waterford road and the Cashel-Kilmallock road with the River Ara flowing roughly E-W to the S. It is likely that the town of Tipperary was the principal manor or caput of the Anglo-Norman cantred (an administrative area) of Okonagh (which included the eastern portion of the Tipperary barony of Clanwilliam, as well as portions of Limerick) and probably dates to the late 12th century. A motte and bailey (TS067-001----) c. 1.1km to the N and a motte (TS067-002----) c. 800m to the NW protect the northern and northwestern routes into the town. In 1215 the ‘vill’ or town of ‘Tibrari’ is mentioned in relation to the church there and in 1300 a reference to the ‘community of the town’ suggests that the town was incorporated at this stage (Bradley 1985, 56). Otto de Grandison, who held Clonmel, also held Tipperary town by 1281 (Thomas 1992, 194). It appears that the county court met at Tipperary until the Archbishop of Cashel moved it to Cashel, which was the subject of a legal case in 1297 (Thomas 1992, 194). The town was burned in 1329 by Brian O’Brian, however, there are references to the reeve (senior town official) and community up until 1432 (Bradley 1985, 56). There is historical evidence that the town was walled, though no physical evidence is visible at ground level. In 1300 a murage grant was given for a period of 10 years and in 1310 a further grant was give for a period of 3 years (Thomas 1992, 194). Based on the probable survival of the medieval town pattern on the modern town, it is suggested that the town consisted of an area of c. 15 hectares, roughly rectangular in shape, incorporating the church (TS067-004003-) and graveyard (TS067-004008-) in its NW angle and the castle (TS067-004002-) in the SE angle, with the river forming the southern boundary (Thomas 1992, 194-5). An Augustinian Friary (TS067-004001-) is located immediately S of the river. There is conflicting evidence of when this was founded, sources suggesting that this was either during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) or later c.1300 by Stephen Butler (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970 (1988 reprint), 302). In the 15th century the town seems to have gone into decline and did not recover until the late 17th century. In 1660 the poll-tax returns for the town suggest a total population of c. 250, however, during the course of this decade the hearth-money records suggest that the town grew rapidly with the population almost doubling in size (Smyth 1991, 165).

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 09 June 2014

References

Smyth, W.J. 1991 Towns and town life in mid-seventeenth century county Tipperary. Tipperary Historical Journal, 163-9.

Thomas, A. 1992 The walled towns of Ireland, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Bradley, J. 1985 (Reprint 1997) The medieval towns of Tipperary. In W. Nolan and T.G. McGrath (eds), Tipperary: History and Society, 34-59. Dublin. Geography Publications.