Tourism « Thurles Information

Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary – “The Oldest Of Old Kriegies” Published.

A book, entitled “The Oldest Of Old Kriegies”, has now been published by Moycarkey-Borris, Littleton Men’s Shed History Group, under the guidence of Dr Pat McMahon.

The word “Kriegie” [pronounced kree-gee] is the German military slang for an Allied prisoner of war held in a German internment camp during World War II.

Local history researcher and member of Moycarkey-Borris Littleton History Group, Mr Michael Dempsey, now reports.

The new publication “The Oldest Of Old Kriegies”, is a well sourced publication which has researched, for the very first time and in greatest detail, the life of former Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary resident Mr Lawerence (Larry) Slattery.
Before coming to Littleton, Mr Slattery was born on February 28th 1913, some 35km away in Rossacrow, Donohill, Co. Tipperary, of parents Mary Ann (nee Moran) and Michael Slattery, both primary school teachers.

On September 4th 1939, Mr Slattery’s aircraft was shot down over the sea at Wilhemshaven, west of Hamburg, latter a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany, while attempting to bomb 4 warships.

Picked up from the sea Mr Slattery would go on to become the longest detained British P.O.W of the entire War; not being finally freed until Allied troops reached his prisoner-of-war camp (stalag) in April of 1945.

Thurles.Info website, back in December 5th, 2017 previously briefly wrote about Larry Slattery, however the research details entered into in this new publication greatly exceeds anything previously printed heretofore.

The video above © remembers Mr Larry Slattery and his beloved locality one more time from the sky’s above, with music courtesy of the late, great English composer and conductor Mr Ron Goodwin (1925 – 2003).

Moycarkey-Borris History Group Littleton (MBL) would like to thank the National Archives of Ireland, Military Archives of Ireland, University College Dublin (UCD) Archives, Rockwell College Archives, Lincoln University Digital Archives, British National Archives, Tipperary Studies (at Thurles Library), and family descendants, from whence this extensive research now featured in this publication was gleaned.

This new publication can be purchased from Book Worm Bookshop & Cafe,Thurles, The Horse & Jokey Hotel, from all retail shops in Littleton and directly from members of the Moycarkey-Borris, Littleton Men’s Shed, History Group. Mobile Phone: 086-3648664.

EPA Intervention Sparks Token Clean-Up Of River Suir In Thurles.

Residents shrug, visitors horrified, as Thurles river turns into an open sewer.

LAWPRO scientists warn Suir is ‘dying rapidly’ while Tipperary Council fails to act.
Twelve years of neglect and denial leave one of Ireland’s great rivers in crisis.
Officials accused of hiding 28 sewage outlets behind unchecked weed growth.

Yesterday afternoon, as a heavy downpour swept across Thurles Town, I took shelter beneath the trees on the banks of the River Suir and waited. As predicted at 3:00pm, as the bells from Thurles Cathedral struck the hour, the rain eased just long enough for me to capture a series of photographs and a short video, the evidence of which, now speaks for itself.

Video above shows sewage flowing openly in the River Suir, in Thurles Town centre.
The Fountain, once gifted to the Thurles Tidy Town Committee and stolen from the river Suir by council officials, with the knowledge of current serving local councillors, must now be returned.

What the footage show above is undeniable: Tipperary County Council officials, aided by Thurles Municipal District officials and supported by local councillors, are not only failing in their duty to protect the River Suir; they are directly contributing to its pollution and decline.

The reason the rampant weed growth along the riverbank is left uncontrolled is now obvious. These weeds serve as a natural curtain, concealing the 28 outlets discharging their contents directly into the river; a river which LAWPRO (Local Authority Waters Programme) scientists confirm is dying rapidly.

Yes, in response to an EPA memo last week, Council officials, who had deliberately ignored our warnings, made a token gesture. Two pallets, two plastic bollards, a pile of discarded clothing, and six supermarket trolleys were finally removed. But beyond that, little has changed. As my video above shows, bottles dumped into the river during this summer’s Town Park Music Festival still remain. The blame here cannot rest entirely with festival-goers; when public seating is installed by a river, litter bins must also be provided. Yet councillors and their officials continue to ignore this most basic of facts.

I spent over an hour yesterday in that putrid stretch of riverbank, speaking with those passing along the walkway near the Swinging Gates at the junction of Emmett Street and Thomond Road. After the downpour, one covered drain was spewing raw sewage; another carried foul runoff from the southern end of town. Spanish students and Ukrainian refugees were horrified by what they saw. Local residents, on the other hand, merely shrugged, “nothing new,” they said.
Even the ducks, same introduced years ago by the late Wilbert Houben, Thurles Gun Club and myself, paddled eagerly in the filth, feeding on its floating debris.

Meanwhile, on 11th September, (a full 13 days after I had contacted the EPA in Wexford), our local newspaper finally ran a piece on the issue. Disappointingly, the image used was a long outdated archive photo, showing a river that looked nothing like its current choked and dying state. The article itself read more like a promotion for a local politician, than an exposé of the environmental crisis being ignored for the past 12 years.

And so, the buck-passing continues. LAWPRO; Uisce Éireann; Inland Fisheries Ireland, etc. none are willing or able to take legal action against Tipperary County Council. Instead, information shuffles endlessly from one desk to another, while the river suffers in silence and our government runs around like a headless chicken, believing, like the two genetically enhanced mice, ‘Pinkey and the Brain’, that their hyper-intelligence is slowly taking over the world.

But let it be clear: as the video shows, this is ‘Not The End’.

Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles, Silver Jubilee Presentation.

**Pictured L-R:** **Mr Gerry Bowe** *(Chief Organiser)*, **Ms Bridie Keane**, **Mr **Michael** Keane** **and Very Rev. Fr. Joe Tynan P.P.** *(Knocklong, Co. Limerick)*

At a gathering of friends in Keane’s Oyster Bar/Restaurant, Kilrush Rd, Garraun, Kilkee, Co. Clare, on Sunday 7th September 2025, a presentation was made by Fr. Joe Tynan P.P. (Knocklong, Co. Limerick), to Michael and Bridie Keane and Family.

The presentation was to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of ‘Two-Mile-Borris Friends’, travelling to the West Clare Region.

This event was initially started by the late Mr Michael (Mick) Galvin, “The Shambles”, Two Mile Borris, Thurles, who was originally a native of Moyasta, Co. Clare.
Included in the photo above, on the left is Mr Gerry Bowe, chief organiser of the annual event down through the years.

Free Shuttle Bus To Dualla Show, Co. Tipperary From Thurles.

Mr Dermot O’Halloran, Public Relations Officer with Dualla Show, Cashel, Co. Tipperary Reports:

Free Shuttle Bus direct to Dualla Show 2025 from Thurles Town Centre.

A FREE shuttle bus will run from Thurles town centre to the Dualla Show, Cashel Co. Tipperary, on Sunday next, August 31st 2025.

First Bus: 10.30am from outside the Arch Bar, No 66 Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, (Eircode E41 RH29).
Service: Every hour throughout the day.
Destination: Direct to the Dualla Showgrounds.
Fare: Completely FREE

Do come along, leave your car at home, and enjoy a stress-free trip to one of Tipperary’s biggest family events.

NOTE: Hereunder see complete Bus times running from Thurles to Dualla Show:
10:30am – 11:30am – 12:30pm – 1:30pm – 2:30pm.

Biodiversity – A Polite Name For Convenient Neglect In Thurles.

People who erect signs in neglected, often polluted areas, claiming that the area is being “Managed for Wildlife”, sadly in many cases suffer from delusions of adequacy.
When opportunity permits or when you next exercise your dog, take a stroll along the pavement on Emmett Street in the town. Here over the stone wall two “Managed for Wildlife” signs exist. [Note this same area was ‘strimmed’, bare, twice this year, making walking and flying insects homeless, but the wildlife signs continue to remain in place.]

To those who claimed at a recent Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) meeting that they regularly entered the River Suir to remove discarded litter, sadly, the evidence seen by me today contradicts that claim. No one person has entered the river Suir, in the past 2 years, as images taken of litter today and in the past will confirm. See here and then view images shown in video, accompanying this report, (Note the timber pallets).

River Area In Thurles Town Centre *“Managed for Wildlife”*.

In an email sent to Thurles Municipal District Council requesting that for the sake of appearances, “a group of volunteers might be assembled to clean up the entirety of the River Suir from Barry’s Bridge to the Swinging gates at the junction of Emmett Street – Same work to include removal of sediment and reeds/weeds from the area“, alas the reply came back in the negative. Tipperary Co. Co. Council would have objections as would OPW and Inland Fisheries. We already were aware that LAWPRO would object.
At least we now know the funded bodies responsible for the decline and destruction of our River Suir over the past 12 years.

At the junction at Emmett Street and Thomand Road, take a walk through the “Swinging Gates” entrance. Glance to your right to view dumped, strewn, sacks of what appears to be ladies assorted garments, which have lain there for months. This area is also “Managed for Wildlife”, as is the area travelling west from the children’s play park, close to the foot bridge. Here more garments are discarded; throw away, no longer wanted or needed.
Yes, this is the work of an uncouth, uncaring resident, but nowadays we pay hefty community taxes to have such matters cleaned up in a timelier fashion. Again I ask the question, “For what exactly do we pay Property Tax?

The Need To Attract Tourism.
Some weeks ago local councillors were making local headlines, seeking that a bus should immediately be funded by the government to transport passengers from Thurles Railway Station into Thurles town, latter now almost devoid of its once rich heritage, thanks to the same councillors and their officials.
At Thurles Railway Station, regrettably yet another “Managed for Wildlife” sign is parked at the end of the platform, its deluded phizog guarding a small grassy area of ground 4.6mts (15ft) x 1.3mtrs (4ft). The terminally dehydrated grass here is no longer cut and since the sign was erected, this latter, flowerless plot, just described, together with the available quality flower pots strewn about the area; (latter previously voluntarily tended by locals,) today demonstrates a total lack of ambition for our town’s first impressions. (See Video). Truth is, if I were travelling to Thurles by rail, I would get back on the train.

Croke Street in Thurles for the most part has set an example for the rest of the town. Despite local residences being landed with hideosity and dereliction, facing unto their homes, they have introduced flowers, in an effort to distract eyes from an unsightly, ugly, unfinished, concrete structure.

Protecting Biodiversity – A Polite Name For Lack Of Motivation And Neglect.
In Thurles, Co. Tipperary, ‘protecting biodiversity’ has become a polite name for neglect. As I stated on August 19th last, when it comes to areas within Thurles town, an outsider could be forgiven for thinking that our supposed “protection of biodiversity” is little more than a convenient disguise for neglect. What greets the eye in many places is not thoughtful conservation, but total dereliction; footpaths with weeds, vacant sites left to rot and green spaces littered with rubbish. This isn’t stewardship of the natural world; it is abandonment dressed up as environmental concern. Where real biodiversity currently exists in Thurles is to be tarmacked over, to build a new Drive-Thru McDonald’s burger joint, supported by Tipperary Co. Council.

Genuine biodiversity protection requires care, planning and pride of place; what Thurles, too often, shows is disregard, negligence and a shocking lack of ambition for our town’s appearance and well-being. If this is what passes for protecting our environment, then it is no wonder that so many residents feel our community is being failed at the most basic level.

It seems that the difference between the big business mindset and the mindset of environmentalists boils down to big business believing “I have rights” versus the environmentalists understanding “I have obligations”. Perhaps instead of thinking that we are “born with rights”, we should choose instead to think that we are “born with obligations”, thus requiring us to serve present and future generations, and while in doing so, serve the healthy needs of the planet on which we reside, each of us for a relatively short period.