The Tipperary Antiquarian

©  John Gilroy I was reminded recently about a standing stone near Tipperary Town that was reputed to have been part of Mogh Ruith's "Rowing Wheel".  I first came across a reference to it in John Gilroy's book "Tlachtga - Celtic Fire Festival" (which was published in 2000) and went to look for it a few times around 2008.  ©  John Gilroy In his book he says on pg 80 about the "Rowing Wheel" (he calls it a "Flying Wheel") " O'Curry tells us that it was finally destroyed at the Battle of Sollyhead about three miles west of Tipperary in or about the year 941AD. One part of the Flying Wheel remains as a curiously sculpted stone pillar in the townland of Dromline, outside Tipperary town."  He also includes a photo of the stone which is included here above.  At the time I would have only had Discovery OS maps and I searched around the townland of Dromline for any standing stones (There were none marked I believe). There were two st...

  Ballymackey Castle in North Tipp. It is probably best known as the residence of the last Chief of the O'Meara Clan - Morgan O'Meara. "Morgan O'Meara, the last of the O'Mearas who exercised chieftancy over his sept, was heir to a patrimony which extended from Bennett's Bridge near Nenagh to beyond Toomevara itself, the burial place of the O'Meara's took its name from his family of which, heir male to the name, though not to the property, existed in the person of two nephews less than a century ago. The O'Meara estates embraced a large portion of Upper Ormond. The residence of the O'Meara was at Ballymackey Castle, and there the old chieftain lived in princely style until he had gambled away his princely estates to a "friend" of his named Kilpatrick, from whom they were afterwards purchased by the Tolers, ancestors of Lord Norbury. There was high festival and true Irish hospitality always kept up at Ballymackey Castle - the dwelli...

  We don't know what the function of a round tower was?  Round towers have been recorded in the various Annals as Cloigteach which translates as a Bell tower. We don't know how old round towers are?  This was dealt with as far back as 1845 by George Petrie in which he convincingly dated them to the medieval period. His paper is available to download here.  https://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalar00petr Architectural evidence has always pointed to them being of medieval date, mainly by association with the neighbouring buildings but also similar architectural features. See O'Keeffe's Ireland's Round Towers 64-91. Pg 71 "Why do we date these arched doorways - and the towers in which they feature - to this particular period? It is partly on negative grounds: we expect post-1130 doorways to be more elaborate. It is also partly on comparative grounds. The true arch, by which is meant an arch made with voussoirs, seems only to appear in church architecture in the...

  Always nice to help record a previously unrecorded monument. This bullaun stone in Timoney townland not far from Roscrea hadn't been recorded in the Sites & Monuments Record before. It is located about 40m from a nearby church and graveyard. It has at least bowls carved into an earthfast rock. I think this is the 4th bullaun stone I have been involved with adding to the records in Tipperary. I'm sure lots of people have passed this and just assumed that it was known about but as I always say if anyone has any doubts that something might be recorded drop me a PM and I will try help. Either that or contact the National Monuments Service directly.

The maps seems to suggest broadly that the underlying geology plays a big factor in where they are located. I think the underlying geology may also have been a factor in the location of some of the county boundaries also. It may be tricky to read because of all the different soil / geology types represented. The map is based on information from the National Monument Service of Ireland, Department of Communities - Northern Ireland Sites & Monuments Record, the Geological Survey of Ireland & Open Street Map Ireland contributors.

 

  Bivallate (purple) and Trivallate (Yellow) ring-forts in the North Tipperary area. I've also included the Barony boundaries and it is interesting how the Trivallate ring-forts seems to concentrate in the barony of Upper Ormond. Bivallate (purple) and Trivallate (Yellow) and Multivallate (Red) ring-forts in the South Tipperary area. I've also included the Barony boundaries. I don't think anything jumps out as dramatically in the South except that maybe there are fewer bivallate ringforts. This may be because of agricultural practices or it may just be in how the descriptions of each was recorded (ie North & South Tipperary surveys were carried out at different times when the county was split for administrative purposes). The Southern descriptions may not be as explicit as the North Tipperary ones. Another difference is that the South includes 2 "ringforts" with 4 or more rings (marked red). In theory they should be top of the political / social hierarchy. T...