The Glen of Aherlow (Irish: Gleann Eatharlaí,) is a picturesque valley nestling between Slievenamuck and the Galtee Mountains in the western part of South Tipperary in Ireland. The principal village, in this most beautiful of visual landscapes, is Lisvernane. Other adjacent centres of population are the villages of Galbally (on its western side), Kilross (on its north west front) and Bansha (commanding its eastern approach).
For Tipperary dwellers not surprisingly, this year (2013 ), judges from The Irish Times Best Place to Holiday in Ireland competition have chosen the Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary, from more than 1,400 entries from every county in Ireland and have placed it on their list as being one of the top five national places to visit and holiday this Summer.
Judges, demonstrating a strong preference for remote, unknown yet strikingly beautiful hidden locations, such as the Glen of Aherlow, reflect preferences which also recognise the wonderful work undertaken by local people in making the best of their natural and unspoilt resources.
A final result for this ongoing competition is expected this week.
(Music and Video comes courtesy of Trudi Lalor, with Lyrics written by Billy Morrissey.)
A receiver has been appointed to the South Tipperary Clonmel Park Hotel, latter owned by the Brennan Group situated at the Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel town. The Hotel is one of four hotels in the group, with the Arklow Bay in Wicklow, and the Springhill Court Hotel situated in Kilkenny also in receivership.
The fourth hotel in the group, the Green Isle in Dublin, is not affected and continues to trade as normal.
Hotel Asset Management Services (HAMS), a company formally set up to manage hotels which get into trading difficulties, has confirmed that it had been appointed to manage the three affected hotels.
This news follows the appointment earlier this week of a provisional liquidator to the Ballykisteen Hotel near Limerick Junction, Tipperary town & last month both the Hayes Hotel and Anner Hotel in Thurles, Co Tipperary.
All the hotels above named continue to trade, for the moment, with all staff remaining employed, however this news further highlights the neglect of Tipperary by this present government, with regard to the promotion of tourism in the county.
“Trains and boats and planes are passing by, They mean a trip to Paris or Rome, To someone else, but not for me, The trains and boats and planes,
(Lyrics by Hal David 1966.)
The Industrial Development Authority (IDA), smugly and at every possible media opportunity, boasts of its success in achieving strong net job performance, with 11,766 jobs created in client companies, mainly through foreign direct investment.
In first place, with some 54%, or 6,389 jobs created, was Co Dublin, while in second place was Co Cork, achieving some 1,979 similar job replacements during the same twelve month period.
Here in the County of Tipperary, the South of the county saw a mere ten jobs put in place, ( Fifth from bottom of the overall list, ) while in North Tipp (Bottom of this list, ) saw not even one single job created, during this same period.
These figures have not been concocted by me, but were provided courtesy of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr Richard Bruton, supplied in a written reply to Donegal Fine Gael Deputy Joe McHugh.
The joint organisers of this year’s International Hurling Festival, under the Chairmanship of John Enright, are inviting home all Thurles people, wherever they may be, for the International Hurling Festival, now in its third successive year.
This year in particular, they are inviting back former Sarsfields Club Members and players who have been associated with this successful club in the past. They are calling on same to “Camán home for the Hurling,” on July 12th and include the Munster Final on Sunday July14th and guaranteeing to make this a most joyful reunion for all concerned.
This year’s festival will once again be centred on the International Hurling Competitions featuring the Tom Semple Cup and Carew Cup, latter names famously associated with Thurles and the GAA.
The festival will again include road bowling, wheelchair hurling, camogie, Camán Abú and other numerous social events that are currently still being finalised and for which full details will be posted as planning progresses. For now, just put this weekend date into your diary and begin planning your visit, thus making Thurles the centre of International Hurling and a special annual weekend for all who the game.
Latest Gathering News For Thurles Sarsfields International Hurling Festival.
(1) All the way from Salt Lake City, we welcome Fr. Paddy Carley and some 30 friends travelling here once again for the festival.
(2) Two full coaches from Indianapoliis, Illinois, who will spend a week in the area, playing hurling and camogie at the festival.
(3) Mr Tom Bergin from Moyne is arriving with an enhanced group of Kilburn Gaels hoping to make it a ‘three-in-a-row,’ for the Tom Semple Cup. (Mr John O’Riordan from Ardfurt, the Kilbrun Chairman has been rumoured as stating he is determined to keep the cup.)
(4) Seán Callanan with Dunboyne is back for the third year hoping this time it will be third-time lucky for his group.
(5) Former Sarsfields stalwarts Colm O’Rourke, Jamie Murphy and David Kerins are bringing the All-Irish speaking Setantas back again.
(6) Ger Collins, former Tipp County Minor, is bringing back Naoimh Moninne for the third time. Louth are also sending a road bowling team to compete in the Cusack Cup.
(7) McCormack is a name very much associated with Thurles Sarsfields. The McCormack clan from Keady are coming back a third time expecting this time to win the Tom Semple trophy. They also have strong ambitions with regard to road bowling.
(8) Mayo are coming with a huge contingent, Toureen ( Carew Cup Holders ) and Castlebar for the hurling, Ballina for Camán Abú and Westport for Road Bowling. David Hughes and Peter Goggin are the current Interprovincial ‘Michael Cusack Cup,’ champions. Mr Adrian Hession, the Mayo development officer, is the driving force here.
(9) We have a second Setanta team from the Gaeltacht in Donegal, giving us our second Irish speaking team.
(10) Ballyduff and Causeway are our two Kerry teams. It’s great to see two traditional clubs from North Kerry joining us.
(11) North Cork are arriving representing the birth place of Dr. Croke, Kilbrin.
(12) Last year Manorhamilton became the first Leitrim team to hurl in Thurles and Mr Steve Feeney is bringing them back this year for more of the same.
(13) Damian O’Doherty and Na Magha from Derry are coming back again and very welcome indeed.
(14) Fulham Irish from London, under Mr Michael Ruby from Kilshannig in North Cork will be the third London club to take part in the Tom Semple Cup.
(15) It is great to see Naas hurling manager Pat English bring his native Carlow club Ballykellin to this year’s festival.
(16) Another new entrant this year is the Rialto club from Dublin under Mr David Broderick.
(17) Bernie O’Dowd and Louise Lanigan, Thurles Sars Camogie, and Deirdre Murphy from the Munster Council are organising a senior seven-aside camogie tournament in St Patrick’s college, the latter I hasten to add is a fantastic addition to this Thurles Festival.
All in all, this year’s festival promises to be the biggest and best to date, so do stay tuned as we continue to keep you up to date with all events planned, as same are confirmed here on Thurles.Info and our sister website Hidden Tipperary.
Efforts to organise the repatriation of the Derrynaflan Hoard back to its native home in Thurles Co. Tipperary were highlighted in yesterdays morning’s edition of the Independent newspaper & today’s Irish Examiner (page 4)
The leading Irish newspapers stated that an organisation in Tipperary, called Hidden Tipperary, is calling for the permanent relocation of the Derrynaflan Hoard, now housed at the National Museum of Ireland, to be returned back to its county of origin.
Derrynaflan Hoard
The treasure trove known as the Derrynaflan Hoard consists of one highly decorated ninth century silver chalice, a large eighth century paten and stand, an eighth century liturgical strainer, and an eighth to ninth century bronze basin. A stone slab, found on the site and now also in the National Museum, and much associated with the original location of this treasure & inscribed “Or doan main Dubscull,” (Translated; A prayer for the soul of Dubscuile,) is also being sought.
Abbot Dubscuile mac Cinaeda, mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, is understood to have died around 962 AD & was the son of Cinaedh, and one of the eventual successors of St. Colum Cille (521 AD – 597AD).
St. Columcille or St. Columba was an Irish Abbot and missionary credited with spreading Christianity in present-day Scotland. He founded an important abbey on the island of Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in this region for centuries. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts of Scotland, and is remembered today as a Christian saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Derrynaflan Island
The monastery at Derrynaflan was originally founded by St. Rhuadhan of Lorrha in the sixth century. Derrynaflan was an important monastery in the then eighth and ninth centuries and came under the patronage of the King-Bishops of Cashel. After the death of Feidlimid mac Crimthainn the King-Bishop of Cashel in 847, this monastery fell into decline & nothing of this early monastery’s structure now remains, except some very faint outlines of the original enclosure and the ruined walls of a slightly later church.
Suitable exhibition space has been identified in The Source complex beside the river Suir, and new high definition CCTV currently being installed in the town centre is expected to be incorporated into any required security deemed necessary by the National Museum, should an agreement to repatriate be reached.
Employment
Any repatriation of the Derrynaflan Hoard is expected to create at least 300 full-time & part-time jobs in the region, particularly in the tourism associated sectors, like Restaurants, Hotels, Theatres, as Guides etc, not to mention local associated SME’s. The estimated costs of €100,000 required to transport the Derrynaflan Hoard could be recouped within the first year, if a minimum of only €1 was implemented as a charge, during this initial start-up period.
Hidden Tipperary
“Hidden Tipperary,” are a new voluntary tourism promotion group, membership of which insists that all belonging to the organisation must be fully skilled professionals, prepared to volunteer their respective talents at no charge and to the benefit of all persons residing in County Tipperary.
Their committed membership include; local fully qualified I.T. professionals, qualified video camera operators, professional video editors, dedicated historians, award winning short story & script writers.
Tipperary Tourism Offices
Hidden Tipperary today also report that Tourism Offices, marked for closure in both Nenagh ( Bamba Square ) & Cahir ( Castle Car Park ), may re-open in the coming weeks, despite Failte Ireland recommendations. Over 40 per cent of tourism information offices across Ireland have now been dumped on local interest groups and businesses with little financial support from Failte Ireland, who charge for all materials supplied, despite in many cases free space being provided at the expense of the former.
Hidden Tipperary now invite all various tourism sectors in Tipperary, to ensure that all brochure & advertising materials are sent to these offices if & when the future of same are announced.
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