Ireland day 1016. Wednesday 10 July 2024- Tipperary

Today’s summary	Drove over from Cashel to Tipperary to have a quick look round. Quite small so didn’t stay for long. A straightforward drive back to Malahide then spent the evening doing some shopping, catching up on the laundry and making dinner.
Today’s weather	Bright and breezy with some sun in Tipperary. Overcast and showery in Malahide. Moderate north westerly wind. Appx 16c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Its a long way to Tipperary

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

It’s said to be a long way to Tipperary but from Cashel it’s only a 20 minute drive. That felt like too good an opportunity to miss, so I had breakfast and checked out of the B&B, jumped into the Trusty Yaris, and headed off west down the N74.

I was fortunate that today the sun was shining, and in fact the weather was altogether much more pleasant than yesterday. It’s just a shame it arrived 24 hours too late. Anyway, Tipperary town was washed clean and sparkling in the sunshine.

It’s only a small town so I was able to see a good proportion of it on my short stroll around from the SuperValu car park. It has a strong republican heritage and there were numerous reminders of the various struggles for self determination dotted throughout the town. The architecture is quite pleasant and the town appears moderately prosperous as you might expect, given that it is right in the middle of some of Irelands most fertile farming country.

I had a quick look at the brand new River Ara walkway – just opened last month. Then after a quick supermarket snack for lunch, which I ate in the car, I set off for Malahide. It was an easy drive and I was back in the flat in only just over two hours.

I spent the evening doing all the washing from my trip away, reviewing a new mapping app (“Hiiker”) that I’m testing, doing a bit of shopping and then making tea.

Val’s still in London, back on Friday. Busy days for both of us!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The C. J. Kickham memorial in Kickham Place. Charles J. Kickham was a famous author born in Co Tipperary in 1828	Dan Breen House. I’m not sure what it is now but Dan Breen was a Republican volunteer at the end of the 19th century, and the house itself was originally a rectory, built in 1841

St Michael’s (Catholic) Church	Church Well in Emmet Street, near May Maher Place. Donated in 1833 by one Stafford O’Brien Esq (an absentee landlord, apparently)

Galtymore, 24 hours too late!!	Enjoying the sun on the River Ara walkway, opened as recently as June 2024. Which is probably why I couldn’t find it on any of my maps

On the banks of the river Ara. Tipperary gets its Anglicised name from the Irish “Tiobraid Árann”, meaning the Well of Ara. Ara – which gives its name to the river too – was probably a local tribe