Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Nenagh

In this series of posts, I will be giving you a little history of Nenagh, the town where I live, and its surrounding district. Not being anything akin to a historian and not being possessed with a great knowledge of the place although I have lived here for over 40 years, I will have to rely heavily on research to accomplish this. So perhaps, during the course of those posts, we will both learn something about the area.

Starting our tour of Nenagh and surrounding neighbourhood. Picture by Judy

As I stated in my profile, I was born near Cashel, Co. Tipperary. Early in the 60’s I moved to Nenagh to take up employment and I have lived there ever since. My adopted home town of Nenagh (An tAonach in Irish) is a town in North Tipperary and the capital town of North Tipperary and unofficially the whole of the county with a population in 2006 of 7,415. It lies on the Nenagh River, which flows into Lough Derg at Dromineer, 9 km to the north-west, a popular centre for sailing and other water sports.

A scenic view of Lough Derg

Silvermines Mountains lie to the south of the town, with the highest peak being Keeper Hill (Sliabh Ciamalta in Irish) at 694m. The Silvermines Mountains have witnessed mining for silver and base metals on and off over seven hundred years. Traces of 19th century mine workings remain.


Nenagh was originally a market town, and its name in Irish, An tAonach means "The Fair", a reference to Aonach Urmhumhan, the Ormond (East Munster) Fair, of which it was the site. Nenagh is today a busy commercial town.


Chief amongst the town's attractions is Nenagh Castle, constructed by the Fitzwalter (also known as Butler) family in the 13th Century, and one of the finest of its kind in Ireland.

13th Century Nenagh Castle pictured by Pat Whelan

One of the many places of interest is the ruined Franciscan abbey, which was built in 1212 in the reign of Henry III and was one of the richest religious houses in Ireland. It was in use for six hundred years, Fr. Patrick Harty, who died in 1817, was its last inhabitant.

10 comments:

Judy Roo said...

great new site joe......I love it and I can hardly wait to read more about your town and your country...even if that means I will get an occasional history lesson...yep...I can do that!!

Ormond Diaries said...

thank you judy and thank you for your invaluable help in setting up the site...in due consideration and appreciation for that, i promise to curtail the history lesson as much as possible.
hugs.

Judy Roo said...

you get extra hugs for that joe...and you are welcome...thanks for always sharing your new endeavors with me and letting me share my thoughts with you..hugs...hugs...see double hugs!

Judy Roo said...

great pictures joe......I loved being in the passenger seat...and I will love seeing and learning more about Nenagh and the surrounding area through your eyes and your new blog...I have been in love with Ireland for years...and it was terribly exciting to be there and I can't wait to come back again!!

Adam Wright said...

This should be and will be a nice site. And I would expect as it grows you'll be getting decent hits from anyone wanting to travel to Ireland. Very Nice.

Anonymous said...

WOW! Congratulations Joe, it's wondeful!! I enjoy the music it gives it a nice touch! Looking forward to learning more! BTW does this history lesson come with a FREE TRIP at the end! A "see for urself" kinda thing? lol lol Love you....

Anonymous said...

Hello Joe-- The pictures are so beautiful. - I would love to come to Ireland-- but its a long way to Tipperary- lol Great Job Joe!!! Hugs Betsy

Rainee said...

Great site Joe and so informative I love learning all about Ireland as its my no 1 place on earth besides Cornwall.. you have done a lovely job here and its so pretty, hope to learn more of your home town and surrounding areas, and also seeing the pretty green countryside, thank you so much for sharing your Country and world with me...

Rainee said...

An updated look is wonderful Joe, and I love seeing all the sites and history , its no means boring I can`t get enough of Irish history and scenery, just great Joe thank you for sharing a little of your world..hugs

Rainee said...

Another comment Joe, loved the castle and its history and your town is steeped in History, how privileged are you to live so close to all that history?, I would be thrilled to live somewhere like that and would spend all my time just searching the ruins, you have done a lovely job with these diaries.. so Joe know you are going over to USA you have a wonderful trip and give Judy some hugs for me, a wonderful person she is and its just so great for you to be able to get together with her family and just enjoy American hospitality.,, take care and see you when you come home.. hugs ,,