The Tipperary Antiquarian

Growing up I often heard of the townland area Pallas - an upland area outside Nenagh. The name always conjured the idea of a Palace to me but of course that was a fanciful notion. I was reading the book " Gaelic Ireland c. 1250-1650: Land, Lordship and Settlement" in which uthor Professor Elizabeth Fitzpatrick mentioned that townlands with the name Pallas may often have housed a high-status Gaelic timber fortress. This obviously got me thinking of the local townland Pallas. Prof. Fitzpatricks latest paper finally became available to view on academia.edu and in it she discusses this idea. https://aran.library.nuigalway.ie/handle/10379/14741 This is a fascinating paper and Tipperary features prominently in a number of sections of it.  The paper looks at the meaning of the name Pallas and considers whether it comes from palisade or was a borrowed term from abroad for an elite building. It also confirms that there are townlands with the name Pallas from all fo...

Outside Clonmel in South Tipperary in the townland of Mullachnoney is the reputed inauguration site of the Kings of An Deise known as Mullach Inneona. From the information board adjacent to the site it "was the inauguration site of the kings of An Deise Thuaiscirt from time immemorial until the coming of the Normans. According to legend, Aonghus Nad-fraoich, King of Cashel, granted the territory of Uibh Eoghain and Uibh Fhathaidh (Iffa and Offa E. & W.) to the Deise, as a reward for expelling the Osraige from the area. They gave their name, An Deise Thuaiscirt, to the newly acquired territory. It is related that St. Patrick came to Inneoin to fast against the king, Ledhan, because he had refused to accept baptism from St. Declan. Declan came to Inneoin to meet Patrick. They deposed Ledhan, appointed Feargal MacCormaic in his place, blessed him and proclaimed him chieftan. The Declan and Fergal gave a large area of land to Patrick in which there was a clear fountain, sin...