Cahir
Encyclopedia
Cahir (ˈkɛər; ) is a town in South Tipperary
South Tipperary
South Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 52% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...

 in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. The town is best known for its castle
Cahir Castle
Cahir Castle , one of the largest castles in Ireland, is sited on an island in the river Suir. It was built in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond...

 and the Swiss Cottage
Swiss cottage, Cahir
The Swiss cottage is located at Kilcommon near the town of Cahir, South Tipperary in Ireland. It was built around 1810 and is a fine example of cottage ornée, or ornamental cottage. It was originally part of the estate of Lord and Lady Cahir, and used for entertaining guests...

. It is in the barony of Iffa and Offa West
Iffa and Offa West
Iffa and Offa West is one of the baronies of Ireland, an historical geographical unit of land. Its chief town is Cahir...

.

Location and access

For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dublin to Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

 N8, and the Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

 to Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

 N24. The N8 was realigned in 1991 to run west of the town, while the old road through it was renumbered the R670
R670 road
The R670 road is a regional road in Ireland. The route runs from its junction with the R639 and N24 at Cloughabreeda 2 km north of Cahir through Cahir town and onwards for a further 8 km to Ardfinnan, where it joins the R665 road...

. Traffic from the N24 still left the town badly congested, however, until October 2007 when this road was also realigned to bypass Cahir to the north and east. The same road improvement scheme saw major changes to the N8 corridor: a new motorway, the M8
M8 motorway (Ireland)
The M8 motorway is an inter-urban motorway in Ireland, which forms part of the road from the capital - Dublin - to Cork city. The 149 km motorway commences in the townland of Aghaboe, County Laois and runs through the counties of Kilkenny, North Tipperary, South Tipperary and Limerick,...

, was constructed west of the town between 2006 and 2008. Access to Cahir from this motorway is gained at Junctions 10 and 11.

Bus Éireann
Bus Éireann
Bus Éireann provides bus services in Ireland with the exception of those operated entirely within the Dublin Region, which are provided by Dublin Bus. Bus Éireann, established as a separate company in 1987, is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. The logo of Bus Éireann incorporates a red Irish...

 runs regular services to Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford through the town. The bus stop is located in the town centre, on Castle Street.

Cahir is on the Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

 regional railway line. The town's railway station
Cahir railway station
Cahir railway station serves the town of Cahir, South Tipperary in Ireland. It has daily passenger journeys to Limerick junction. The station is unstaffed and the platform is accessible via a ramp. The station opened on 1 May 1852.,-References:...

 opened on 1 May 1852. Services are infrequent.

History

The name Cathair or an Chathair translates as "stone ringfort
Ringfort
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Iron Age , although some were built as late as the Early Middle Ages . They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland...

", while the name Cathair Dhún Iascaigh means "stone ringfort of the fishing". In older accounts, it was often spelled Caher.
For much of its history, the town has been influenced by the Butler family. It was from this family that the first Barons of Cahir
Baron Cahir
Baron Cahir is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1542 for Thomas Butler who was a descendant of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. Descendants later became Viscounts Cahir and Earls Glenarm. Cahir is a town in the barony of Iffa and Offa West, South Tipperary...

 were created. It was known for much of its history as being a defence town (Main article: Siege of Cahir Castle
Siege of Cahir Castle
The Siege of Cahir Castle took place in Munster, in southern Ireland in 1599, during the campaign of the Earl of Essex against the rebels in the Nine Years War . Although the castle was considered the strongest fortress in the country, Essex took it after only a few days of artillery bombardment...

). It was one of the first towns to be linked by stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

 in the nineteenth century when Charles Bianconi
Charles Bianconi
-Life and work:Born Carlo Bianconi in Costa Masnaga on September 24, 1786, he moved from an area poised to fall to Napoleon and travelled to Ireland in 1802, via England, just four years after the 1798 rebellion. At the time, British fear of continental invasion resulted in an acute sense of...

 commenced services between Clonmel
Clonmel
Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...

, Cahir and Cashel
Cashel, County Tipperary
Cashel is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 2936 at the 2006 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Additionally, the cathedra of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to the English Reformation....

. The building at The Square, where The Galtee Inn is now sited, was the stopping point in the town for Bianconi's coaches.

Amenities and features

Cahir Castle
Cahir Castle
Cahir Castle , one of the largest castles in Ireland, is sited on an island in the river Suir. It was built in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond...

, which is situated on a small island in the River Suir
River Suir
The River Suir is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of .Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout...

, is the town's main tourist attraction. Cahir has a fine Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

 parish church, still in use, designed by John Nash
John Nash (architect)
John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...

, one of only three ecclesiastical buildings he designed in Ireland. Another major attraction is the Swiss Cottage
Swiss cottage, Cahir
The Swiss cottage is located at Kilcommon near the town of Cahir, South Tipperary in Ireland. It was built around 1810 and is a fine example of cottage ornée, or ornamental cottage. It was originally part of the estate of Lord and Lady Cahir, and used for entertaining guests...

 along with numerous specialty heritage walks. The nearby Galtee Mountains
Galtee Mountains
The Galtee Mountains or Galty Mountains are a mountain range in Munster, located in Ireland's Golden Vale across parts of counties Limerick, South Tipperary and Cork. The name "Galtee" is thought to be a corruption of the Irish "Sléibhte na gCoillte" - "Mountains of the Forests" in English,...

 form the largest inland range in Ireland and are home to Glengarra Wood
Glengarra Wood
Glengarra Wood is a mixed woodland in Ireland located southwest of Cahir, Co. Tipperary off the M8 motorway and R639 road. Approximately in extent, it is situated on Old Red Sandstone on the southern slopes of the Galtee Mountains. It is mainly a coniferous forest with Sitka Spruce being the main...

, which is a popular walking area. The Knockmealdown Mountains
Knockmealdown Mountains
The Knockmealdown Mountains are a mountain range located on the border of counties South Tipperary and Waterford in Ireland, running east and west between the two counties. The highest peak of the range is Knockmealdown, situated in County Waterford...

 stand south of the town, while to the southwest lie the Mitchelstown Caves. The salmon weir, on the opposite side of the bridge from the castle, is a popular location to fish.

Cahir is a small heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...

 town. A shopping precinct is centred around the town square adjacent to Castle Street. The town has a leisure centre (Duneske), an all-weather soccer pitch, all weather tennis courts, a Downhill mountain-biking track and a GAA
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 pitch. An 18 hole Golf course lies a few kilometres outside the town.

Notable people

  • John Noel Dempsey (1915–89), Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut 1959–61 and Governor of Connecticut 1961–71.
  • Michael Murphy
    Michael Murphy (VC)
    Michael Murphy VC was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.Murphy was born circa 1837 in Cahir, Tipperary to Michael Murphy, a local blacksmith, and his...

     (1831–93), awarded the Victoria Cross
    Victoria Cross
    The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

    , which he later forfeited.
  • Brenda Hyland, winner of the Rose of Tralee
    Rose of Tralee (festival)
    The Rose of Tralee festival is an international competition which is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world. The festival takes its inspiration from a nineteenth century ballad of the same name about a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called The Rose of Tralee. The...

     competition in 1983 (although she represented County Waterford
    County Waterford
    *Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...

    ).
  • Una Healy
    Una Healy
    Una Theresa Imogene Healy is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician, best known for being one fifth of girl group The Saturdays...

    , singer from The Saturdays
    The Saturdays
    The Saturdays are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London, United Kingdom. The group consists of five members Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Vanessa White and Rochelle Wiseman. In 2007 the band were formed through Fascination Records which gave them an instant record deal with...

    .

International relations

Cahir is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with the town of Scarborough in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

See also

  • List of towns in Ireland
  • Market Houses in Ireland
    Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland
    Market houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was...

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