Nenagh

History of Nenagh:

Nenagh is located in Barony of Ormond which was the traditional territory of the O'Kennedy's in the pre-Norman times. Nenagh is the largest town in North Tipperary lies to the west of the Nenagh river which empties into Lough Derg at Dromineer. The silvermine mountains lies to the South of Nenagh, its highest peak is Keeper Hill at a height of 694m.The mining of silver and base metals have been mined in the Silver Mountains for over seven hundred years. There are still traces of 19th century mine working found here.

Nenagh Castle:

Nenagh Castle is a very important historical building in Nenagh, it is so important that it is the logo for many of their local businesses and local clubs i.e milk brand and the sportswear. The castle was built in c1200 by Theobald Fitzwalter, the first Butler and his son Theobald finished building it in c1220. The keep is over thirty metres high and the base is sixteen metres wide. Nenagh Castle is one of Ireland's most finest castles. In 1861 the crown of mock crenellations and ring of clerestory windows were added to castle by Rev. William Flannery. Nenagh Castle was meant to become the Bell Tower of a Pugin-designed cathedral but it was never built. Unfortunatlely the castle is starting to break away, therefore the castle and its surroundings is being developed but it will remain as the tourist attraction in the area.

This picture is from: http://wapedia.mobi/en/Nenagh

The Railway:

Nenagh railway station was opened on the 5th October 1863. It has a station between the the Limerick and Ballybrophy railway line. The railway isn't used very often because of the lack of upkeep. Therefore the railway line is only able to have a restricted speed of 40km/h and the trains that are currently used there have a poor timetable which is a disadvantage to the commuters. On the 1st of September 2005, the Nenagh Rail Steering Committee had a meeting with the national railway company Iarnód Éireann (IÉ) to try to get a morning and evening service between Nenagh and Limerick to increase the commuter traffic. The meeting was also held to show the results of the traffic study funded by the Nenagh Town Council and the North Tipperary County Council. IÉ agreed to the delay the afternoon service and agreed to try to get the early morning service.

Although the twice-a-day service on the Ballybrophy/Limerick railway line is poor, Nenagh is only 37km/h from Thurles which is on the Dublin/Cork line.

Rugby:

The Rugby Union club Nenagh Ormond was the one of the stronger junior Rugby clubs in Munster winning many trophies in the late nineities and early part of the century. The Rugby club was also the first club in Tipperary to gain senior status by being promoted by the third devision in the Rugby AIB legue in 2005. Since they became a senior club as well as a junior club, Nenagh Ormond has competed very well in the AIL. They also have produced three Irish International Rugby players: Tony Courtney in the 1920s, Trevor Hogan who formerly played for Munster but now plays for Lensiter and Donnacha Ryan who plays for Munster.