an inland county in the province of Munster, Ireland, is bounded, N. by Galway and King's counties; E. by King's, Queen's, and Kilkenny; S. by Waterford and Cork; and W. by Cork, Limerick, and Clare. It extends from 52° 11' to 53° 10' N. Lat., and from 7° 23' to 8° 25' W. Long.; being about 70 miles in its greatest length, on a meridional line, from the confluence of the Lesser Brosna and Shannon, N. to the Knockmealdown Mountains, S. and 40 miles from O'Brien's Tipperary. Bridge on the Shannon, W. to Urlingford, E., and comprehending an area of 1659 square miles, or 1,061,731 acres, of which 843,887 are arable, 178,183 uncultivated, 23,779 in plantations, 2359 in towns, and 13,523 are under water. In proportion to its extent, this county contains less unimproved pasture land than any other in the south of Ireland. These lands, as usual, are situated partly on the tops and declivities of mountains, particularly in the range of the Devil's Bit and Keeper Mountains, and partly in the form of bogs occurring in the low valleys near the margins of rivers and streams. Of the mountain pastures of the first class, the county contains above 111,000 acres, and of the latter about 67,000 acres. On the whole, it is probable that about 300,000 acres might be reclaimed for cultivation: 60,000 acres might be drained for pasture; and 88,000 acres may be considered as incapable of improvement. Tipperary ranks as the sixth county in Ireland as to its total extent, and the second as to its extent of cultivated land.

According to the statement of Ptolemy, this district was inhabited in the second century by the tribes of the Darini and Coriundi, but Whitaker attributes it to the Scoti. It was afterwards possessed by various native septs, the principal of which were those of O'Kennedy, O'Mulrian, O'Fogarty, O'Heffernan, O'Hickey, McEgan, Everard, Mathew, and Woulfe. Subsequently to the year 1172, it was granted by Henry II., who obtained possession of it after several sanguinary contests, to Theobald Fitz-Walter, surnamed Butler, from the office which he held in the king's household. It was reduced to the form of an English county by King John in 1210, and in 1328 Edward III. erected it into a county palatine, in favour of the first Earl of Ormond; and though that king shortly after re-assumed the regal prerogatives, the county was re-granted in 1337, and in 1372 confirmed, to James the son of Theobald, and his heirs-male for ever. This grant affected only the lay lands of the county, those belonging to the Church being a separate jurisdiction, with its own courts and officers, under the name of the county of the Cross of Tipperary. The county continued to be thus divided both in fact and name until after the Restoration, when the grant of the regalities was not only confirmed to the Duke of Ormond by Charles II., but extended over the whole of the county. The jurisdiction continued in the family till the attainder of the last Duke of Ormond, in consequence of which the whole of the ducal property reverted to the Crown, the patalinal rights were abolished, and the records belonging to it deposited in the king's courts of chancery and common pleas, where they still remain. The county suffered greatly during the civil wars of 1641, in the course of which the town of Clonmel, after a gallant resistance, obtained honourable terms from Cromwell, who conducted the siege in person.

The surface is much varied. To the south it rises into the range of the Knockmealdown Mountains, the highest summit of which is 2150 feet above sea level. North of these are the Galtee, the highest of which, Galtymore, rises to an elevation of 3015 feet. Proceeding still farther north, are the Slievenamanagh Mountains, 2364 feet high; the Keeper, 2265; Arragh, 1558; and a portion of the Devil's Bit, 1572; the remainder of which last-named range extends north-easterly, forming the line of demarcation between King's and Queen's counties. The rest of the county presents an undulating surface, in some parts rising into hills of some elevation, the most considerable of which are the Slieveardagh Hills, bordering Kilkenny county, and Slievenamuck, near the base of which the town of Tipperary is situate. The Cashel Hills separated from the termination of the Slieveardagh by a north and south valley, about a mile and a half wide, form a small cluster, the highest point of which is 699 feet above the sea. The southern portion of the county drains into the Suir, the northern into the Shannon, by means of several Tipperary small rivers. The only large river that passes through the county is the Suir, which has its source in the Devil's Bit Mountains, and after flowing in a southern direction, by Templemore, Thurles, and Cahir, to Ardfinnan, takes a western course by Clonmel, and, passing through Carrick-on-Suir, enters the county of Waterford, and discharges itself into the Atlantic through the estuary of Waterford harbour. The Shannon forms part of the western boundary of the county, from its most northern point, at the junction of this river with the Lesser Brosna, through its expansion called Lough Derg, and thence to O'Brien's Bridge. The Lesser Brosna is the northern boundary from Parsonstown to the Shannon. There are no lakes of any extent; three of small size, worthy of notice chiefly from their shape and romantic position, lie in the glen of the Galtees.

The mountains are mostly composed of clay-slate, surrounded by sandstone; those of Knockmealdown are also capped with horizontal strata of this latter mineral. The part of the Devil's Bit range which projects into the county is wholly sandstone, as are also the groups of the Galtees and Slievenamuck. The Slievenamanagh Hills are composed of the Silurian and Old Red Sandstone rocks, the central plain is underlaid by the carboniferous limestone, and the Slieveardagh Hills are composed of the coal measure shales and sandstones. The beds of the Slievenamuck range horizontally, so as to furnish large quantities of excellent flags from the quarries. Slates of good quality are raised, in the district adjoining the southern extremity of Lough Derg, and carried in large quantities to various distant places by the Shannon navigation. There is also a very extensive and valuable slate-quarry near Clonmel, which enjoys equal facilities of transport by the Suir. In the east of the county is a coal-field, generally considered to be an offset or continuation of that in Kilkenny, from which it is separated by a narrow intervening neck of limestone. It extends about 20 miles in length from Freshford to near Cashel; and is about 6 miles broad in its widest part; the towns of Killenaule and New Birmingham mark the centre. The seams, which lie between strata of sandstone and shale, are in some cases single, in others double, and even treble. The thickness of those in the Coalbrook mines, which have been long worked, is from 1 to 2 feet. The strata dip at a deeper angle than in Kilkenny, and undulate. The coal, therefore, lies in deep troughs, giving rise to a peculiar mode of working, the shaft being sunk in the centre of the trough, and the coal wrought by working upwards on both sides of it. The produce of these works consists of one-fourth coal and three-fourths culm. The former is in considerable demand for manufacturing purposes, being highly esteemed on account of the large portion of pure carbon contained in it; the latter is equally so for making lime, and is also used for culinary purposes when wrought up into balls with clay. The quantity of coal raised in the district has been estimated at 50,000 tons per annum. Ironstone, though found in large quantities in the Coalbrook works, is not applied to any profitable account. The village of Silvermines, on the northern side of the Keeper Mountains, derives its name from the quantity of silver obtained in its neighbourhood, which at a former period had been largely worked, as were copper-mines in the same neighbourhood. Copper is also raised at Lackamore, near Newport, from the lead mines, and at Holyford, near Thurles, but only in small quantities: the works have lately been suspended. Zinc, manganese, malachite, galena, sulphate of barites, and white lead, have been found in various places. The natural stalactite caverns, discovered in 1833, on what was then part of the large Mitchelstown estate of Lord Kingsborough, are situated in a low limestone hill, near the southern base of the Galtee Mountains, about midway Tipperary, between Cahir and Mitchelstown, and present a peculiar feature in the geology of the county. They are entered by a passage sloping downwards, about 200 feet in length, which opens into a subterraneous chamber nearly 80 feet long, and upwards of 30 at its greatest height; whence proceed other passages communicating with a number of interior caves of various sizes, that have obtained names chiefly from their discoverers, or from some peculiar resemblance, whether real or fanciful, to objects of general notoriety. Their roofs, sides, and floors are adorned with a great variety of stalactites of singular appearance, and in some parts there are small reservoirs of the purest water. The floor is strewed with large blocks of limestone. They are generally known by the name of the Mitchelstown caves, from their vicinity to the town of that name in the adjoining county of Cork. The level part of the county is chiefly limestone, constituting one extremity of the great field of that formation which spreads over all the central portion of Ireland. Its most striking peculiarity is the small abrupt hill known as the Rock of Cashel, on which are the celebrated ruins which form so striking a feature in the landscape. The hill consists of a mass of limestone, rising precipitously from the surrounding plain. The beds in the central portion of the hill are nearly horizontal for 200 feet, dipping at each end at a high angle from the hill; on the north side the rocks, from being horizontal, suddenly incline to the north at from 75° to 85°, and on the south side incline to the south at 80°. Extensive deposits of clay are described by Sir Richard Griffith as occurring between Cahir and Clonmel, nearly equal in quality to the pipeclay of Bovey. It burns purely white, only acquiring a buff tinge in the extreme heat of a porcelain furnace. Although largely exported to England, no use has been made of this substance at home. This clay is found on the edge of the coal district, but in the cavities of the lower limestone.

The soil in the plain country and in the extended valleys is a rich calcareous loam, capable of producing the finest crops with little aid from human industry. The town of Tipperary forms the centre of a tract of flat country lying between the Galtee and Slievenamonagh ranges, extending from the county of Limerick westward to Golden and the Slieveardagh Hills in the opposite direction, which, from its extraordinary fertility, has been called the Golden Vale. Another tract of similar character, but not so extensive, lies in the northern baronies of Ormond. The soil on the hills and mountain sides is light and poor, partaking much of the character of the substrata of clay-slate and sandstone on which it rests. The southern extremity of the great Bog of Allen spreads itself into this county in its northeastern quarter, from Roscrea to Holycross, not, however, in one continuous sheet, but in detached portions. It appears to have owed its origin to the obstructions in the channel of the Nore, a small portion of which skirts the county here. The whole of these detached portions of bog contains 35,000 acres, the most elevated part of their surface being about 400 feet above the sea, and therefore perfectly capable of drainage. The timber found here is chiefly fir, yew, and oak, the latter perfectly black, from the action of the iron in the bog-water, or the gallic acid in the tree. The substratum is universally limestone or gravel. In one of these bogs three growths of timber have been found lying under one another; the upper about 5 feet from the surface, the middle about 2 feet lower, and the third, which is always in a more or less decomposed state, near the gravelly bottom. The land in the neighbourhood of the bog tract is generally swampy, producing little but reeds and other aquatic vegetables. The sides of the valleys, watered by the streams that pass through the bog and marshes, throw up a good herbage without any artificial aid, except that of setting fire to the surface in the heat of summer. The heath and moss are thus destroyed, and scope given to a spontaneous growth of grass, on which cattle feed eagerly in all seasons, but chiefly in summer, the cool and moist sward being peculiarly grateful to their feet. Several tracts near the margin of the bog have been reclaimed, and the process is extending. There is little, if any, native timber; but plantations, sometimes very extensive, are to be seen around all the gentlemen's seats and the residences of the wealthier farmers. The growth of timber thus raised is as yet by no means sufficient to remove from the landscape, otherwise abounding in natural beauties, the appearance of bareness which it still exhibits.

The increase or decrease of the number of inhabitants appears from the following table of the population as taken at different periods:

| Year | Authority | Number | |------|-----------|--------| | 1760 | De Burgs' | 101,370| | 1792 | Beaumont | 169,000| | 1812 | Parliamentary census | 290,531| | 1821 | Ditto | 346,896| | 1831 | Ditto | 402,563| | 1841 | Ditto | 435,553| | 1851 | Ditto | 331,487|

The population to the square mile in 1841 was 263, and in 1851 had been reduced to 200. During the eight years ending December 1858, upwards of 75,000 persons had emigrated from the county. According to the census taken by the Commissioners of Public Instruction in 1834, calculated by dioceses, the total population amounted, in round numbers, to 413,000, of which 16,840 were of the Established Church, 650 Protestant dissenters, and the remaining 395,500 were Roman Catholics, who were then to the total Protestant population as 23 to 1. The number of children receiving instruction in the public schools, according to returns made under the Commission of Education in 1824–6, was 33,676, of whom 29,941 were males, 12,188 females, and 547 sex not ascertained. Of these, 2,871 were members of the Established Church, 84 Protestant dissenters, 30,407 Roman Catholics, and 314 religion not ascertained,—giving an average of 30 Roman Catholics to 1 Protestant. The number of schools of each denomination, and of pupils attending them in 1851, was ascertained by the Census Commissioners to be as follows:

| Denomination | No. of Schools | No. of Children | |--------------|---------------|----------------| | | | Males | Females | Total | | National | 130 | 5231 | 4890 | 10,121| | Church Education | 12 | 174 | 168 | 342 | | Endowed | 10 | 182 | 131 | 313 | | Boarding | 9 | 99 | 197 | 296 | | Private | 182 | 3308 | 2444 | 5752 | | Parochial | 40 | 954 | 685 | 1640 | | Free | 7 | 657 | 277 | 934 | | Mission | 8 | 129 | 189 | 318 | | Military | 3 | 363 | 77 | 440 | | Workhouse | 26 | 3614 | 4892 | 8506 | | Gaol | 1 | 112 | 52 | 164 | | Charitable Boarding | 1 | 14 | 8 | 22 | | Total for the county | 441 | 14,837 | 14,011 | 28,848 |

The county is divided into two ridings, north and south, each of which contains six baronies, the acreable contents and valuation of which are as follows:

| North Riding | Acres | Valuation | |--------------|-------|-----------| | Baronies | No. | £ | | Eliogarty | 90,254| 61,973 | | Kerrin | 69,808| 42,619 | | Kilnamanagh, Upper | 49,990| 23,418 | | Lower Ormond | 135,723| 72,551 | | Owney and Arra | 89,672| 36,123 | | Upper Ormond | 79,472| 39,004 | | Total | 524,919| 275,988 | These baronies are subdivided into 189 parishes, of which 96 were in the diocese of Cashel, 20 in that of Emly, 32 in Lismore, and 41 in Killaloe. The cathedrals of the dioceses of Cashel and Emly are both within the county, in places from which the sees have received their names. The former, which retains the rank of a city, is still a place of some note; the latter, though said to be the ancient Imleagh, noted by Ptolemy as one of the three principal cities in the island, is now an insignificant village.

Tipperary returned eight members to the Irish parliament, two for the county, and two for each of the boroughs of Cashel, Clonmel, and Fethard. The number was reduced to four by the Act of Union, which disfranchised the last-named borough, and deprived each of the others of one of its members.

A considerable portion of the county is covered with a rich loamy soil. Arthur Young, who wrote about twenty years before the Union, when describing the Golden Vale, which extends from the town of Tipperary and to the foot of the Galtee Mountains, and spreads through the centre of the county of Limerick, says, "It is the richest soil I ever saw, and such as is applicable to every wish. It will fatten the largest bullock, and at the same time do equally well for sheep, for tillage, for turnips, for wheat, for beans, and, in a word, for every crop and circumstance of profitable husbandry."

Tillage prevails in the lowland districts, and is carried on in general according to the most modern systems. The size of the farms is generally small, averaging about 50 acres, and in many instances diminishing to 8 or 10, in consequence of the subdivision of land among the tenants. The rotation adopted on the rich lands in the Golden Vale, and in the almost equally fertile districts in the northern parts of the county, is potatoes, wheat, and oats; in the lighter soils, as on the Slieveardagh Hills, and the mountain sides, the crops are potatoes, barley or bere, and oats. In too many instances the repetition of the oat crop is continued until the land is completely exhausted, when it is allowed to rest until the renovating powers of nature clothe it with a new sward. Artificial grasses are much encouraged; clover of both kinds, rye and other grass-seeds, are sown, as are rape, vetches, and turnips. Flax is seldom to be seen but in detached patches, or along the head-lands of the corn-fields. The extent of land under each description of crop in 1856 and 1859 was:

| Crop | 1856 | 1859 | |-----------------------|----------|----------| | Wheat | 58,799 | 54,778 | | Oats | 74,228 | 76,709 | | Barley, bere, rye, beans, and peas | 7,532 | 4,013 | | Potatoes | 60,709 | 66,042 | | Turnips | 28,550 | 24,857 | | Other green crops | 4,488 | 6,043 | | Flax | 101 | 98 | | Meadow and clover | 318,828 | 309,283 |

Lime and limestone gravel, the latter taken from the escars in the eastern parts of the county, are the principal manures. The fences are stone walls, or mounds of earth 8 or 10 feet broad at the base, and tapering upwards to a considerable height, with a topping of furze or whitethorn. The latter plant is also employed as a ground fence in the best regulated estates. Owing to the undulating character of the surface, drainage is little required. Where it is adopted, and especially in the pasture lands, a covered drain is used, which is so narrow, and sunk so low, as not to be injured by the pressure of the feet of the cattle on the surface sod. Agricultural instruments of the most approved construction are coming into use. The rich low lands along the banks of the river are generally under meadow, and produce abundant crops of hay. The lands appropriated to pasture are used both as grazing and dairy farms. Butter, which is made to a great extent, finds a ready market at Clonmel, Waterford, and Limerick. The manufacture of cheese is almost unknown. The breed of Irish cows is still kept up, in consequence of the quantity of milk which they yield. They are sometimes reared without any mixture of other breeds, sometimes with a cross of the Holderness or Devon. The horses bred in the country are highly esteemed, and bring good prices. Swine are to be met with everywhere; they form an important part of the farming stock of the landholders, and are exported in great numbers to England. The quantity of live stock in the county, in 1850 and 1859, was:

| Livestock | 1850 | 1859 | |-----------|------|------| | Horses | 26,590 | 31,580 | | Cattle | 182,249 | 200,553 | | Sheep | 231,555 | 220,033 | | Pigs | 85,421 | 90,658 |

Though a great deal has been latterly effected in the way of agricultural improvement in both its main branches of tillage and pasturage, much more is still required in order to draw forth all the capabilities with which the bountiful hand of nature has enriched this tract.

The manufacture of woollen cloth was formerly carried on to a great extent, particularly in the neighbourhood of Clonmel and Carrick, which were the two principal marts of the trade; but it is now nearly extinct; a small trade in blankets, flannels, and a mixed light cloth called ratteens, being the only vestige of its existence. Many efforts have been made to introduce the linen manufacture as a substitute. Grants of implements and premiums were offered by the Irish Linen Board, appointed to encourage and foster the manufacture. Much of the funds sent into the country from England during periods of famine were employed to turn the course of industry, particularly among the females, into this channel, but to no purpose. The culture of flax, as already stated, is but little attended to, the plant being raised in small quantities, and manufactured merely for domestic use, in which it is also more and more superseded every year by the increasing demand for cotton fabrics. The staple manufacture of the county is that of flour, for which there are numerous extensive mills. The abundant supply of the raw material from the rich valleys and campaign lands, and the numerous sites, with a great command of water-power, on the many branch-streams that feed the main rivers, afford facilities of which due advantage has been taken; and the export of flour is consequently a great source of internal wealth. Many plans have been devised to increase this wealth, by increasing the facilities for transmitting agricultural produce throughout the country, and to the great marts. The generally level yet undulating surface of the land affords adequate scope for carrying on lines of inland navigation, and extending railway communications. A canal was projected to form a continuation of that already existing from Dublin to Monastereven. It was to proceed by Roscrea and Cashel to Carrick, whence there is a river-navigation to Waterford. Others of minor extent were projected to pass through the northern and western parts of the Shannon, which is navigable all along the verge of the county; but the railroad system has now superseded the necessity for increasing inland navigation.

The remains of antiquity are numerous, and, in some instances, of a very remarkable character. There are two round towers, one at Cashel, the other at Roscrea, both in good preservation. Among the remains of ancient monastic buildings, many of which are still in existence, the most worthy of notice are those on the Rock of Cashel, one of the most interesting assemblages of ruins in the kingdom, and, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, "such as Ireland may be proud of." They consist of the ancient cathedral, a fine Gothic structure, exhibiting a combination of the military with the ecclesiastical style of architecture; Cormac's Chapel, a venerable building, with a fine groined roof, and having in the interior some very ancient paintings in fresco, and a number of statues supposed to represent the apostles; there are also united with these the remains of the castle, and the before-mentioned round tower.

Around the ruins about 3 acres of rich green sward have been enclosed; and from the summits of the ruins extensive views of the surrounding country are obtained. It is a singular fact, that the round tower which forms part of these ruins should be composed of freestone, whilst the material of all the other ruins is the limestone of the district. About 3 miles from Thurles are the fine ruins of the Abbey of Holy Cross, founded in the year 1182, by Donald O'Brien, King of Limerick. "They are very extensive, and, even to one not an antiquarian, highly interesting, from the general outline of the ruins, their towers, chapels, and arches, and from the beauty of some of the architectural remains within." In the abbey is the beautiful mausoleum of Lady Eleanor Butler, fourth Countess of Desmond. The remains of ancient castles are also numerous, as might be expected in a part of the country so often the seat of intestine wars. Several old fortresses are still kept in repair, and improved so as to form the residences of the proprietors of the surrounding lands. The dwellings of the peasantry differ little from those in other agricultural districts, nor are there any very marked variations observable in their manners, dress, or mode of living; but the inhabitants of the county have generally been supposed to embody all the strange anomalies characteristic of the rural population of Ireland. "You have here," says Mr Foster, "the richest land and the most extreme poverty. The people complain of high rents, and yet extract but half the profit out of the land which it will yield. They struggle desperately to possess a patch of land, because they have no employment by which to live, and yet the land is only half cultivated for want of the labour which might be profitably bestowed upon it. They shoot one another in the struggle to possess a patch of land, and leave neglected and waste thousands of acres which would amply repay their labour and capital. They complain of the want of tenure, and the moment they get a lease, they sublet and get rid of their tenure to another. They complain that landlords and agents in parts of the country will not reside, and they shoot them if they do." These inconsistencies are not exhibited by all, nor all at one time, but the extent to which they still come into play shows an entire ignorance of the rights, duties, and occupations of capital and labour, which is not altogether confined to any class of the population.

The county town of the south riding is Clonmel, on the Suir; a large and populous place, partly in this county and partly in Waterford, with a population, in 1851, of 12,518 souls. Since the division of the county into two ridings, Nenagh, where the assizes in the north riding are held, has received some improvement. The population of this town amounts to 7349. Cashel, a city with a population now reduced to 4798 souls, was anciently the royal residence of the kings of Munster. The other larger towns are Carrick-on-Suir, a place of some trade by means of its site on that navigable river—Pop. 6223; Thurles, the seat of the Roman Catholic see of Cashel, having in it the cathedral and the archiepiscopal residence, 5921; Tipperary, 7001; Roscrea, 3496; Cahir, 3719; Fethard, 2767; and Templemore, 4375.

a market town of Ireland, formerly chief town of the county of the same name, stands on the Arra, an affluent of the Suir, and on the Limerick and Waterford Railway, 25 miles S.E. of Limerick. It is pleasantly situated in a plain near the foot of the Slievenamuck hills, and for an Irish town is pretty well built. It consists principally of one main street, which is well paved and clean; and has a handsome parish church with a tower and spire, a large Roman Catholic chapel, a Methodist meeting-house, several schools, a market-house, jail, &c. A considerable trade is carried on here in the agricultural produce of the surrounding country. Pop. (1851) 7001.