The Vee in the running for national “Best Drives” award, and here’s how to back Tipperary.
One of Ireland’s most dramatic road trips is in the spotlight this week, with The Vee shortlisted in the Best Drives series, run by The Journal in association with Allianz Insurance. The series celebrates standout scenic routes around the country, and the overall winner will be rewarded with a dedicated video feature shared across The Journal’s platforms.
Why ‘The Vee’ is turning heads: The nomination describes ‘The Vee’, (VIEW HERE ), as “one of the most visually stunning drives in Ireland”, and it’s easy to see why. Named for its famous V-shaped bend, the route climbs into the Knockmealdown Mountains and opens up sweeping views over valleys and patchwork farmland below On clear days, you’re treated to big skies and big horizons, with views stretching towards the Galtee Mountains, home to Galtymore (917.9m), widely noted as the highest inland mountain in the country. And then there’s the height of the pass itself: The Vee rises to around 610 metres (2,000 feet) above sea level, adding that unmistakable “mountain road” feel, especially as the road curls past the lake and viewpoint.
The suggested starting route: The drive can be started from either Clonmel or Cahir, continuing through Clogheen, up and over The Vee, and onwards towards Lismore. It’s a route that manages to feel like a proper road trip without demanding an entire day, ideal if you want a scenic spin with a few memorable stops built in.
Don’t miss Bay Lough: A highlight mentioned in the nomination is Bay Lough, latter a quiet, upland lake close to the high point of the pass. It’s a natural “pull in, step out, and take it all in” moment, whether you’re after photos, fresh air, or a calm pause mid-drive. The nomination also suggests taking to the water, including kayaking, as part of the experience, underlining the sense that this is more than a nice view from a car window; it’s an outdoorsy corner of the county worth lingering in.
A route on the Tipperary–Waterford line: The Vee sits right on the border, straddling Tipperary and Waterford, a gateway drive that shows off the best of both sides of the mountains, with wide open panoramas and that signature V-shaped turn that gives the route its name.
How to vote: Tipperary County Council has urged people to “support Tipperary with your vote” as the poll goes live. To take part, look up The Journal’s “Allianz Best Drives” poll HERE and please do cast your vote for The Vee. (As we go to press now running in second place).
Tip: As always on upland routes, take it handy on bends, expect changing conditions, and pull in safely when stopping for photos, the views will still be there when you arrive.
A Roof to Save, A Night to Remember – Major New Fundraiser To Be Unveiled Soon.
Something Big Is Coming: Major New Fundraiser for Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles – Set for Early May.
Almost every family in the Thurles area has at least one thread that leads back to Thurles Cathedral. It might be the memory of a baptism carried in a shawl and whispered prayers. It might be First Communion photographs taken on the steps, Confirmation day nerves, or the steady comfort of familiar hymns sung from the choir. For others, it is the bright lift of a wedding morning and, sooner or later for us all, the quiet dignity of farewells; funerals, anniversaries, candles lit for names we still speak.
Thurles Cathedral Baptistery.
Thurles Cathedral isn’t just a landmark you pass on the way through Thurles town; no it is a place where lives are marked, where time is measured in sacred moments, and where the community’s joys and sorrows have been gathered and held for generations.
And then there’s the detail that catches you almost immediately as you approach from the street. To the right, slightly apart, like a gentle prologue before the main story, stands a circular building, modest in scale yet rich in meaning.
That round building is the baptistery; its separation from Thurles Cathedral is no accident, and it is one of the things that makes Thurles so quietly distinctive. In Ireland, baptisteries are typically absorbed into the body of the church. Here in Thurles, it stands free, echoing the great continental tradition, where baptism, the beginning of the Christian journey, was given its own threshold-space; a place of welcome, entry, and promise, before you pass into the larger embrace of the Cathedral itself.
Stand for a moment, let the little round baptistery hold your gaze, and watch how stone and light conspire to make something quietly, heart-stoppingly beautiful.
Built in locally quarried limestone, the baptistery shares the Cathedral’s grounded, elemental strength; stone that feels native to its own landscape. Yet it totally refuses that tiresome, boring, and tedious lack of variety that results so often in dull routine. String courses and carved details break the grey with crisp definition, and in places lighter stone is introduced to lift the eye and relieve the broad limestone planes.
Then comes the architecture’s music; the repetition of arches. Below, a long, slender rhythm of limestone, pillars support lower arcade. Above, the upper arcade rests on a colonnade of stunted pillars in polished red Aberdeen granite, a sudden richness, a warmth of colour that feels almost like a flourish, as if the building has discovered ornament and decided to rejoice in it. Higher still, an upper wall, smaller in circumference than the lower, becomes more intricate, same richly decorated and pierced by twelve circular openings that read like little moons of daylight.
And naturally, the gaze rises again, to the dome, a crowning that seems to gather the whole circular form into a single upward gesture. At its summit sits the archiepiscopal cross with two arms, the sign that this Cathedral belongs to an archbishopric; not only a parish church, but a mother church with a wider symbolic reach.
All of which brings us to the urgent present. Beauty like this depends on something deeply unromantic but absolutely essential, a sound roof. And right now, Thurles is seeking to re-roof the building and a major conservation step and fundraising is underway to make that possible. It is the sort of work that doesn’t make headlines the way a new project might, yet it is the work that decides whether what we love will endure; keeping out water, preventing slow damage, protecting artistry and memory alike.
In a way, it is fitting that the baptistery greets you first. A baptistery is about beginnings. And this moment is another beginning, too; the community’s chance to put its shoulder under the task, to protect what has protected so many of our milestones, and to ensure that the Cathedral remains not just admired, but kept.
A Gentle Call To Action. If this place has ever held even one moment of your life; a prayer, a photograph, a hymn, a vow, a farewell, consider doing one small thing to help it hold those moments for the next family, and indeed the next.
A donation, a fundraiser, a share with someone who has moved away, but still carries Thurles in their heart, it all matters. Roofs are saved the way communities are built: not by one grand gesture, but by many hands doing what they can, when they can.
A major new fundraising event to support the re-roofing of the Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles will be unveiled soon, with an early May 2026 date now in the diary. Watch this space and be ready to help keep a roof over the place that has held so many of our life’s moments. Because some buildings are more than stone. They are memory made visible, and now, quite literally, the future of this one is “In Our Hands“.
Ratepayers’ Cultural Safety Briefing for the Maryland USA Mission (St Patrick’s Weekend Edition).
Tipperary ratepayers warmly welcome news of the proposed Maryland excursion by the CEO of Tipperary County Council, Ms Sinead Carr, along with the Cathaoirleach, Cllr Mr John Carroll and Mr Anthony Fitzgerald (Head of Enterprise and Economic Development and Tourism), latter a brave initiative in international relations, and an even braver initiative in free expensing, courtesy of Tipperary taxpayers.
However, before anyone is released into the wilds of a round of St Patrick’s weekend receptions, it is essential the travelling party completes the Maryland Compulsory Heritage Module, because nothing says “strategic engagement in quantum technologies” like being caught flat-footed on a 19th-century poem in front of a room of people who can quote it at you.
Pic L-R:Barbara Frietchie, & poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
Module 1:Barbara Frietchie (1766 – 1862), [Fritchie, Fritchie-ish, depending on who’s correcting you]. All delegates must demonstrate a working knowledge of the famous Frederick legend in which an elderly woman allegedly waves the Union flag, while Stonewall Jackson passes through, and he, like a well-trained character in a civic morale story, obligingly delivers the appropriate line on cue. Warning, this is not optional. In Maryland, this is basically local scripture, and you will be judged accordingly.
Module 2: Stonewall Jackson, not just a beard, a brand. You don’t have to agree with the legend, but you must be able to nod thoughtfully, while someone says “Of course you know the story…” and you respond like a person who has absolutely not spent the flight learning it from a laminated handout.
Module 3: Frederick’s “Shared Heritage”. Delegates are reminded that Frederick’s history has more edge than a brochure. For example, your hosts may be vaguely aware of the 1781 treason case in Frederick, (Mr Caroll please note), involving British loyalists, including Mr John Caspar Fritchie (Barbara’s father-in-law), convicted in a plot involving British prisoners and a rendezvous with Cornwallis in Virginia, resulting in their nasty executions two months later. This is the part of “people-to-people ties” that rarely makes the PowerPoint, but it does wonders for small talk, if the canapés are slow coming out of the kitchen.
Assessment: A short oral exam may occur at any point, possibly mid-toast, possibly in front of cameras. Passing grade requires:
Correct pronunciation of “Frietchie/Fritchie” without looking panicked.
Ability to smile as if you’ve always loved American Civil War folklore.
The restraint not to say “Sure we’ve our own rebels at home”(referring to ‘People Before Profit’ and ‘Sinn Féin’), unless you enjoy diplomatic incidents.
Anyway, thank God, we are getting some return on our Property Taxes and it’s so comforting, because for a moment there I worried our money was being used efficiently. Now, with the bar so low (it’s basically underground), yet we are still managing to trip over it. Absolutely, nothing says ‘value for money’ like spotting that single working streetlight and the knowing that the Thurles potholes are really just a normal street feature.
Finally, ratepayers would like to reassure this delegation, that if you accidentally confuse Barbara Frietchie with any other historic flag-waver, don’t worry, the room will correct you instantly, with great enthusiasm, at full volume, and for free.
Safe travels. Spend wisely. Reports of any major successes in tourism, business, of course will be required. Oh and for the love of God, do your homework.
Now, to add some educational context; read the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 – 1892) latter published in October 1863.
Barbara Frietchie.
Up from the meadows rich with corn, clear in the cool September morn, The clustered spires of Frederick stand green-walled by the hills of Maryland. Round about them orchards sweep apple and peach-tree fruited deep, Fair as a garden of the Lord to the eyes of the famished rebel horde, On that pleasant morn of the early fall when Lee marched over the mountain wall, Over the mountains winding down, Horse and foot, into Frederick town. Forty flags with their silver stars, forty flags with their crimson bars, Flapped in the morning wind, the sun of noon looked down, and saw not one. Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, bowed with her fourscore years and ten; Bravest of all in Frederick town, she took up the flag the men hauled down; In her attic window the staff she set to show that one heart was loyal yet. Up the street came the rebel tread, Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. Under his slouched hat left and right he glanced: the old flag met his sight. “Halt!”, the dust-brown ranks stood fast, “Fire!”, out blazed the rifle-blast. It shivered the window, pane and sash, it rent the banner with seam and gash. Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff, Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf; She leaned far out on the window-sill, and shook it forth with a royal will. “Shoot, if you must, this old grey head, but spare your country’s flag,” she said. A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, over the face of the leader came. The nobler nature within him stirred, to life at that woman’s deed and word. “Who touches a hair of yon grey head dies like a dog! March on!” he said. All day long through Frederick street, sounded the tread of marching feet, All day long that free flag tossed over the heads of the rebel host. Ever its torn folds rose and fell, on the loyal winds that loved it well, And through the hill-gaps sunset light shone over it with a warm good-night. Barbara Frietchie’s work is o’er, and the Rebel rides on his raids no more. Honour to her, and let a tear fall, for her sake, on Stonewall’s bier. Over Barbara Frietchie’s grave, flag of Freedom and Union, wave, Peace and order and beauty draw round thy symbol of light and law; And ever the stars above look down on thy stars below in Frederick town! End
St Patrick’s Day parade committees across Ireland are warning that escalating insurance costs and reduced availability of public liability cover are placing community celebrations under severe strain, raising the risk of cancellations, scaled-back routes and last-minute uncertainty for towns and villages.
Hereunder, Video of the Thurles, Co. Tipperary, St Patrick’s Day Parade Held 2025.
Volunteer-led committees say public liability insurance has become a barrier to participation, not just a safety requirement, with higher premiums, stricter conditions and growing administrative demands landing on groups that rely entirely on fundraising and unpaid work.
Public liability insurance, covering injury to spectators and participants, as well as third-party property damage, has become increasingly difficult to secure for volunteer-led events, with committees reporting that quotes are higher, conditions are tighter and the administrative burden has grown significantly.
Recent media reporting has highlighted the scale of the challenge, with one Wicklow parade committee facing insurance estimates in the €5,000–€10,000 range (with €6,500 cited), a cost that can exceed the entire fundraising capacity of smaller communities.
At the same time, local-authority event permissions typically require proof of insurance in advance, often at high indemnity limits and with specific policy wording, adding pressure to secure cover early and at a price communities can afford.
A spokesperson associated with the Thurles town St Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, has stated that;- “Insurance has always been a problem and ever since Covid it has doubled. This is a volunteer-run event. We’re proud of the work that goes into making it safe and welcoming, but the cost and complexity of insurance is now the single biggest threat to Irish parades. Without a workable solution, communities will lose events that bring people together and support local businesses. We’re told to produce more and more documentation and pay for more and more controls, which we do, but the quotes still rise and the uncertainty remains. At some point, towns are simply being priced out of their own national day. St Patrick’s Day shouldn’t become a luxury product available only to the biggest centres. If we don’t act, we’ll sleepwalk into a future where local parades quietly disappear, and once they’re gone, they’re hard to bring back.”
Committees stress that risk management standards have risen sharply in recent years. Organisers are now expected to produce robust event management plans, crowd control measures, stewarding and traffic management arrangements, important steps for safety, but often costly to implement.
National claims data shows improvements in the wider public-liability landscape, with the Injuries Resolution Board reporting a 40% reduction in public-liability claim volumes, between 2019 and 2023. Parade organisers are asking that progress be reflected in affordability and availability for well-managed community events.
Calls for action. Community parade organising committees are urging:
A dedicated community events insurance support mechanism, aligned with documented safety standards and transparent pricing.
Clear engagement from Government, insurers and local authorities to protect the viability of community parades, not just flagship events.
A simplified national template for parade risk management and event documentation to reduce administrative burden and improve consistency.
Engagement with insurers, brokers and Government to increase capacity for community events and prevent avoidable cancellations.
St Patrick’s Day belongs to every community and participants are asking for the implementation of practical measures, so that smaller towns and villages can continue to celebrate safely without being priced out of total existence.
Thurles & Tipperary Says Stop The “Junket” Slur – Start the Accountability – Publish the Outcomes of St Patrick’s US Missions.
Ireland must travel, must engage, and must report back, in black and white.
Ireland should maintain the St Patrick’s Day diplomatic programme within the United States, including the Taoiseach’s White House engagement, because it is one of the few annual moments when a small island reliably gets direct access to the world’s most consequential decision-makers, investors and influencers.
But if we are truly serious about ‘people before posturing’, then every travelling politician and councillors must also be required to prove value for money and publish measurable outcomes on return.
That is the missing piece in this annual debate: loud accusations of “junkets” on one side, defensiveness on the other, and far too little mandatory, standardised reporting to the public.
It has been reported that nine or ten ministers are expected to travel to up to 15 US states around St Patrick’s Day. Meanwhile, FOI figures reports show €1,096,493 spent on 569 St Patrick’s Day events globally, with an average cost per event of €1,927.
That is not inherently scandalous. It can be excellent diplomacy. But it must be auditable diplomacy. Engagement is not endorsement, it’s statecraft.
Tourism matters too; and we should never insult the American people. The United States is one of Ireland’s most important tourism markets and supports jobs right across this island, from hotels and restaurants to visitor attractions, guides and local festivals. Tourism Ireland notes that in 2023 the island welcomed over 1.2 million US visitors, who spent about €1.7 billion here, making the US the most important overseas market for revenue. Tourism Ireland’s USA Market Profile 2024 reports 1.3 million American tourists, €2.0 billion in spend, and 11.4 million bed nights; figures that underline just how much Irish employment depends on maintaining goodwill with ordinary American people, not just the political class in Washington. You can disagree robustly with any US administration, while still showing respect to the American public, the diaspora, and the millions who choose Ireland in good faith.
Diplomacy that drifts into contempt is not “taking a stand” – it is self-harm.
Some opposition voices argue our Taoiseach should not go to Washington at all. People Before Profit TD Mr Richard Boyd Barrett has said it is “not appropriate” for Mr Martin to present President Donald Trump with shamrock this year. Labour MEP Mr Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has also publicly taken a “No to the Shamrock ceremony” position. Labour leader Ms Ivana Bacik has also ‘raised conditions’ around any visit if threats continue. Whatever the merits of ‘snub the White House’ rhetoric, it is just gesture politics unless those calling for such a boycott can set out a credible alternative strategy, which of course they haven’t.
Yes, they are entitled to their stance. But the public is entitled to ask a harder question: what is their alternative plan to protect Irish jobs, Irish exports and Irish leverage, in real time, when the stakes are highest?
Ireland cannot clap itself on the back for moral purity, while leaving Irish workers, exporters and inward investment exposed. The national interest is not served by boycotts that make headlines at home and achieve nothing in Washington.
The public interest test: show the receipts and the results. If critics insist on calling these trips “junkets”, and who can blame them, then the answer is simple: remove the ambiguity. From this year onwards, every minister and senior office-holder travelling on St Patrick’s missions should be required to publish a short, standard “Outcomes Report” within 30 days of returning, laid before the Oireachtas and posted publicly.
That report should include:
Full itinerary (meetings, organisations, purpose).
Total cost (travel, accommodation, hospitality), itemised.
Follow-up actions with named officials/agencies and deadlines.
What did not happen (meetings refused, issues parked, risks flagged).
This is not bureaucracy, it is basic democratic accountability. If nearly €1.1m is being spent globally on St Patrick’s Day events, the public should see, clearly, what Ireland gets in return.
A direct challenge to the “boycott brigade”. It is easy to demand that Ireland “takes a stand” from a safe distance. It is harder to sit across the table from power and argue Ireland’s case, on trade, immigration, investment, peace and international law, and then come home and account for what was achieved.
If the likes of People Before Profit and a Labour MEP want to oppose engagement, let them publish their own alternative: a costed, credible strategy that protects Irish livelihoods and advances Irish values, without access, without dialogue, and without influence. Otherwise, it is politics as performance. Who elected these people anyway?
Ireland should go – and Ireland should know.
Ireland should absolutely maintain the St Patrick’s diplomatic programme in the US, and Irish politicians should visit American cities beyond Washington because that is where investment decisions, diaspora networks and industry clusters live.
But also the era of “trust us” travel must end.
Go. Engage. Promote Ireland. Protect jobs. Defend values, and then report back to the over taxed individuals who fe..ing paid for it all.
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