Situation. TIPPERARY, an extensive county in the province of Munster in Ireland, bounded by King's and Queen's Counties on the north; Kilkenny on the east; Waterford and Cork on the south; and Galway, Clare, and Limerick, on the west. From Galway and Clare it is separated by the Shannon, which forms the boundary on the south-west. It extends
about 74 miles from north to south, and 40 from east to west, containing 1591 English square miles, or 1,018,240 acres, 12 baronies, and 186 parishes. More than half the parishes belong to the Archbishopric of Cashel, and the rest to the sees of Emly, Lismore, and Killaloe.
The surface is considerably diversified with moun-Surface.
Tipperary. tains, some of them covered with heath, and plains of great fertility, of which, however, the latter occupy the larger portion, the former being chiefly confined to the boundaries, or not stretching far into the interior. Among these the Galties and Knockmele-down are the most considerable. The rest of the county is in general very productive; and contains some large tracts, particularly that which is called the Golden Vale, and the quarter in which the town of Tipperary is situated, naturally as rich as any land in the United Kingdom. The rivers are the Shannon, which here expands into the noble lake called Lough Derg, and the Suir, which, rising on the borders of King's County, takes its course first south and then east by Clonmel and Carrick, and after joining the Barrow and the Nore, falls into the sea upwards of 100 miles from its source. Many small streams traverse the county, and are lost in these two rivers.
Rivers.
Minerals. Among the minerals are excellent slate in several parts, and lead wrought at Silver Mines on the western side of the county, among the ore of which some virgin silver has been found. Coal is also worked here, on the borders of Queen's County. The climate is so mild, that cattle remain out on their pastures all the year round, the frosts of winter being seldom so severe as greatly to check vegetation.
Estates. This county is divided into estates of various sizes, some of them very large, but a greater number of a medium extent, worth from L. 4000 to L. 6000 a-year. Of the proprietors, the influence of Lord Landaff is by far the most considerable, though several others have estates worth from L. 10,000 to L. 15,000 a-year and upwards. The graziers here, as in Roscommon, have leasehold properties frequently of much greater value than the freeholds, of which also they often become the purchasers. Properties of this description, worth from L. 2000 to L. 4000 a-year, are very common. Tillage farms, however, are generally of small extent, one of ninety Irish acres being thought large; yet the management is in many instances more respectable than in most other parts of Ireland. In some instances the rent of small farms in 1808 was as high as fourteen guineas the Irish acre. But the principal business is grazing, every variety of this kind of land being found here. Leases are commonly for twenty-one years and a life. The cattle, which are long-horned, may be ranked with the best in Ireland, and many of the fine flocks of long-wooled sheep are not inferior, in Mr Wakefield's opinion, to those of Leicestershire. "The charge for tithe," says the author of the Statistical Account of the Parish of Carrick, written in 1815, "is, for wheat 12s., oats 8s., barley 12s., potatoes 12s., meadow 8s., sallows 12s., orchards ad valorem, which are always compounded, and never taken in kind." The rich lands produce a kind of flax very different from that which is raised in the north; it grows to a great height, and appears to be exceedingly well adapted for sail-cloth.
Farms.
Tithe.
Flax.
Towns. The principal towns are Clonmel, the county town, and the birth-place of Sterne, and Carrick, both upon the Suir, Cashel, Fethard, formerly a walled town, but now in a state of decay, Cahir, Thurles, Roscrea, Nenagh, and Tipperary, the last now in a ruinous condition.
Manufactures. The manufacture of broad-cloth is carried on to
some extent at Carrick; and that of linen, worsted, and coarse woollens, as branches of domestic industry. But the wealth of this extensive district chiefly consists in its cattle and sheep, corn, and other land produce. By means of the Suir, it has access to Waterford and the sea on the south, and by the Barrow and Nore, and a branch of the Grand Canal, to Dublin on the east.
Tipperary sends four members to Parliament; two Representatives for the county, in which there are about 12,000 freeholders, and one for each of the burghs of Clonmel and Cashel. Before the Union the number was eight; Cashel, Clonmel, and Fethard, having each two representatives, and the county two. In 1791, the population was estimated at 169,000; by the census of 1821 it was found to be 353,402. According to Mr Wakefield, the number of Protestants is very small; in some places not one in a hundred. The Irish language is still spoken as well as the English. From the want of bog in the low grounds, turf for fuel is sometimes scarce and dear. The wages of common labour, a few years ago, were higher than in most other parts of Ireland; yet the lower classes have been but too ready to take an active part in the disturbances which frequently bring disgrace and misery on the south of Ireland. See the general works quoted under the former Irish counties. (A.)