County Tipperary
In the Provence of
Munster.

Google map of County Tipperary

 

County Tipperary from Samuel Lewis' Topographical Directory of Ireland 1837

Tipperary is one of the six counties of the province of Munster it has an area of 4,254 sq. Km km (1,642 sq. mi). making it the largest of the inland counties, it takes its name from the Irish Tiabraid Arann 'the well of Ara'.

Its largest towns are Clonmel, Thurles, Nenagh, Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Roscrea, Cashel, Templemore, Cahir and Fethard. Tipperary has borders with Laois and Kilkenny to the east, Waterford and Cork to the south, Limerick and Clare to the west, Galway and Offaly to the north. The greatest distances are 105 kilometer's from north to south and 70 kilometer's from east to west.

Most of the lowland of Tipperary consist of limestone covered by glacial deposits and peat bogs. The upland areas are generally sandstone shale and slate. In the south the Galtee Mountains rising to 920 metres (3017 Ft) also the Knockmealdown Mountains and Slievenamon. In the east are the Slieveardagh Hills, and to the west is the extensive Silvermine Mountain system. This extends northeastward to Devilsbit Mountain and the Arra Mountains overlooking Lough Derg.

The River Suir drains much of the land southwards. Northern and western parts of the county drain towards the River Shannon and Lough Derg, which forms the northwestern boundary. This is a very popular area for pleasure boating, with several cruiser hire companies operating in the area.

Service industries employ about 50% of Tipperary's workforce, about 20% are employed in manufacturing. There is some mining in the north. The leading service industry in the whole county is the retail trade. There is a peat briquette factory near Thurles. Coal is mined at Ballingarry, and barytes, a mineral formed from barium sulphate is also mined. (These mines may not still be in production, perhaps someone can tell us.) There are some forests on the upland areas.

The Garda Siochana main training centre is at Templemore. Food processing is of major importance's manufacturing industries. Meat, milk, and milling industries developed out of the county's farming activities.

Modern engineering industries include the manufacture of electronic and electrical goods, and fabricated metal products. Clonmel is the largest manufacturing centre, with products that include cider, computers, dairy products, fibreboard, leather, meat, pharmaceuticals, printing, radiators, soft drinks, and textiles.

The agricultural land is generally fertile, except in the upland districts. Farms average about 27 hectares. In the south west dairying is the main farming activity, farmers in other areas rear and fatten beef cattle. The uplands are used mostly for Sheep grazing, a few farms are engaged in horse breeding while in the south there are quite a lot of pig farms. About 15% of the land is used to grow arable crops these include sugar beet and potatoes being the main root crops, barley is grown for animal feeding and malting, wheat is also grown. The number of people emploted in agriculture has declined steadily during the past decade.

The major roads and the railways are those linking Dublin with Cork and Limerick, and Limerick with Waterford. The national primary roads are the N7 through Nenagh to Limerick, the N6 through Cashel to Cork and the N24 through Tipperary and Carrick-on-Suir. Limerick Junction, which is near Tipperary town, is Ireland's second most important railway junction after Dublin. The lines are to Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford. A branch railway from Limerick to Ballybrophy serves Nenagh and Roscrea.


Co Tipperary
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Tipperary in 1837

 

 

 

 
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with a list of places to see,
and Tourist office contact details.
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Google Map of County Tipperary.