The Tipperary Antiquarian

The eagle eyed among you might have spotted that I mentioned a big upcoming discovery. At that stage I thought I had discovered some "new" rock-art at a holy well known as St Patricks Well in the townland of Carrigatoher. The possibly of some kind of rock art was brought to my attention by a follower of my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Thetipperaryantiquarian/ . Joann Hinz's roots go back to many areas that feature prominently on my page such as Townlough near Portroe (home of The Graves of the Leinstermen) and areas in Burgess / Kiladangan parishs. She sent me a link to some very interesting folklore from the recently uploaded Irish Folklore Commission information on duchas.ie. www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162112/5155297 Armed with this sketch on my phone, I surveyed the holy well in the hope that I could find what seemed like very specific information regarding rock-art. After a good look around at the well I was about to leave when I ...

This carving only came to light during the completion of the Archaeological Inventory of North Tipperary in the early 90s. There are two schools of thought about this carving. One is that it is 9th / 10th century depiction of Christ the Warrior. You can just make out a figure holding a shield over their torso with two hands. It has been compared to the figures on White Island in Co. Fermanagh that are thought to date to the 9th/10th Centuries. The other school of thought suggests that it is of post medieval date and a naïve form of folk art.   The concept of Christ the Warrior is a very interesting and is meant to date to early Christian / Medieval Ireland. I first read about it in Fr Sean O'Dúinn's book "Where Three Streams Meet". http://www.columba.ie/index.php/where-three-streams-meet.html We all think of Jesus Christ as being this peaceful figure who turns the other cheek. However as you might ...

Ruins of Church at Youghalarra Did St. Coana have a church at Youghalarra in North Tipp before the arrival of St. Patrick to Ireland? I came across a very interesting bit of folklore this week about Youghalarra Graveyard. Previously I posted the photo shared which from the archaeological inventory is thought read "'ST. COE[ ]' and underneath this 'NE 433'" The Irish Folklore Commission has this to say about the graveyard. ... "On part of the wall of the old church is the figure of a head with the inscription St Coana 433 AD. It is recorded St. Coona died in 433 A.D. Saint Patrick came to Ireland in 432 and his visit to Munster did not take place till after the year 450. Bishop Palladuis preceeded Saint Patrick. Saint Ailbe of Emly visited Rome before the coming of Saint Patrick and four bishops laboured in Ireland at the time of his coming. Saint Kieran was a bishop in the Ely O'Carroll territory. Youghal Ara being the birthplace of Saint...

From archaeology.ie "On a platform in gently sloping moorland on the W slope of Moanour mountain which is at the W end of Slievenamuck mountain. This wedge-tomb is partially buried in the surrounding bog. It consists of a long wedge-shaped gallery (L 5.4m; Wth 1.1m tapering to 0.65m at the backstone), flanked at either side by the remains of an outer wall (De Valera and Ó Nualláin 1982, 95-6). A pair of orthostats stand behind the E end of the gallery (ibid.). Two roofstones lie across the middle of the gallery and a displaced roofstone rests above the orthostats at the W end of the N side (ibid.). A number of displaced stones lie in front of the entrance (ibid.). The structure is incorporated in a roughly circular mound (diam. 8-9m) which rises little above the surface of the bog (ibid.). Monument is quite heavily overgrown with gorse, brambles, ferns and scrub with a rowan tree on the S side of the E end growing on the tomb." This is one of the few wedge tombs in South T...

A few of the Timoney Stones Do over 300 standing stones date to ancient times as their appearance might suggest or are they an elaborate landlords “folly” built sometime in the 1800s?    I was lucky enough to find a website put together by relatives of Jim Ryan, a local historian who wrote about the area in 1980. http://www.mie.ie/staff/sdelaney/Book/indexbook.htm I decided an interesting way to look at whether they are ancient or not is to examine a time line of the information that I have on them and look at how they appear and disappear in and out of history. 1814 – "Hutchinson planted many groves of trees in the area in 1814 to make the land more attractive as it is natural rocky. It is possible that these stones were erected by Hutchinson. There is evidence that this is not this is not the case and this comes in the form of William's son, John Dawson Hutchinson. John wrote diaries which mention the changes to the land made...

The Harps of Cliu are steep rivers coming down from the Galty Mountains in Co. Tipperary. This is an area full of folklore. In myth they are supposed to be the harp played by Cliu or Cliach in his attempt to woo the daughter of Bodh Derg who lives in his palace or Sídh on Sliabh na mBan. Interestingly enough I doubt that the two features are intervisible. Taken from duchas.ie "The legendary origin of this name occurs in the Dindshencus. According to this legend Cliach was a harper in love with the daughter of Bodh Derg who had his palace on Sliabh na mBan. Being unsuccessful in his wooing Cliach retired to the top of the Galtees where he continue to play and sing all to no effect. Some accounts say he was seized by a dragon and died of fright, another account that he plunged into the lake and was drowned." http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162130/5156626/5197487 Similarily Taken from Mythic Ireland "In legend the supernatural harper, Clíu, emerged from this ...