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County TIPPERARY: a county
of Ireland in the province of Munster, bounded N.W. by Galway, N.E.
by Kings County, E. by Queens County and Kilkenny, S. by Waterford,
and W. by Cork, Limerick, Clare and Gaiway. The county is the sixth
in size of the Irish counties, having an area of 1,062,963 acres, or
about 1661 sq. m. The surface is varied and picturesque. The Knockmealdown
Mountains on the southern border reach an elevation of 2609 ft. To the
north of this range are the picturesque Galty or Galtee Mountains (Galtymore
3015 ft.). To the east, bordering Kilkenny, are the Slieveardagh Hills,
and near Templemore the Devils Bit Mountains (1583 ft.) with a curious
gap on the summit. In the north-west is Keeper Hill, 2278 ft. The greater
part of the county, however, is a gently undulating plain. From the
rich level country the Rock of Cashel rises boldly. Tipperary has only
one considerable river, the Suir, which has its source in the Devils
Bit Mountains, and flows southward and eastward by Templemore, Thurles,
Caher, and Clonmel. The Nore, which also rises in the Devils Bit Mountains,
soon passes into Queens County, and the Shannon forms part of the western
border. The Mitchelstown stalactite caverns, discovered accidentally
in 1833, attract a large number of visitors. They are in the extreme
south-west of the county; take their name from the neighboring town
of Mitchelstown, 6 m. distant in County Cork;There are two round towers
within the countyone at Roscrea and the other on the Rock of Cashel.
The county is rich in possession of remains of several ecclesiastical
foundations of the highest interest. Of these the following are described
under the names of the respective towns: the remarkable collection of
buildings on and adjacent to the Rock of Cashel; the Cistercian abbey
of Holy Cross near Thurles, one of the finest monastic ruins ii Ireland;
and the abbey and Franciscan friary at Roscrea. The stronghold of Caher,
occupied as a barrack, is in good preservation. At Roscrea one of the
towers of the castle btiilt by King John remains, and the stronghold
of the Ormondes, erected in the reign of Henry VIII., forms the depot
attached to the barracks. The other principal ecclesiastical ruins are
the priory of Athassel, founded for Augustinian monks about 1200; and
Fethard Abbey, founded in the 14th century, now used as a chapel.
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