Video « Thurles Information

Una Healy Signs Deal For First Baby Pics

Thurles native & Saturdays Singing Star Una Healy has signed a megabucks deal for the first pics of her baby daughter with a British glossy UK magazine.

The 30-year-old Tipperary mum, engaged to English rugby star Ben Foden, will pose for photographs with her newborn baby in the coming weeks.

The Thurles beauty gave birth to her 7lbs 13oz baby, Aoife Bell Foden, two weeks before her due expected arrival date and took her baby home last Friday evening.

On Twitter Una has posted “Thank you so much everyone for giving our beautiful baby girl such a loving welcome into the world, xx.”

It has already been confirmed that Una and her girl band ‘The Saturdays,’ will play at the Thurles Greyhound Stadium at 2.30pm on Sunday June 3rd next, (June Bank Holiday weekend.) with tickets for the event on sale at €35.00 excluding booking charges and available from www.ticketmaster.ie

Paddy’s Day 2012 From Thurles, Tipperary

As promised in our earlier post, our HD video footage, hereunder, comes courtesy of Hidden Tipperary’s ace cameraman Mr Garry Butler, who has somehow managed to fit highlights of a two hours event into just eight minutes.

St Patrick’s Parade 2012 From Thurles, Tipperary. from HiddenTipperary on Vimeo.

To our American friends and regular readers Patrick Hayes, Eileen Lean and of course Maureen Merrison, (latter who will be visiting her home town of Thurles in early July of this year) and of course not forgetting, Fethard native Katie O’Connell Knott currently residing in Australia, go our belated, but sincere St.Patrick’s Day good wishes.

Again our thanks to the Thurles St. Patrick’s Day Parade organising committee, and trust that most of you caught a glimpse of yourselves, in this excellent video clip provided.

Thurles St Patrick’s Parade 2012

The Thurles St. Patrick’s Parade was held yesterday under clear skies and brilliant sunshine. This year’s event was possibly the largest attended Paddy’s parade ever, in the history of Thurles and took over two hours to pass the “Reviewing Stand.”

Hereunder is a short picture video of just some of the highlights of this most enjoyable of events.

Warning: I feel I should warn viewers that this picture video contains scenes of extreme nudity, foul language and violence, which some viewers may find disturbing, particularly Minister Phil Hogan.

As you saw President Michael D. Higgins was in attendance, as were Mrs Brown and Granddad. Some Vikings, who never went home, also turned up and if anyone ever asks you did the Roman army visit Thurles, you can now answer in the affirmative.

Trust you all enjoyed the afternoon and a big ‘Thank You,’ to Tomas Gleeson and his organising committee. Do check back, as we will be bringing you more video footage over the coming days, so do stay tuned to Thurles.Info

For update click Here.

Thurles St. Patrick’s Day Programme Of Events

As we have already informed you, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2012, here in Thurles will take place on Sunday 18th March.
This year the programme of events are bigger and better than ever before. You don’t believe me, then read on my friends:-

Monday 12th to Monday 19th:- Prizes for best dressed window and for best traditional window.
Friday 8pm:- Ceili in Band Room (Organised by Thurles Set Dancing Club) music by ‘The Suirside Ceili Band.’

Sunday 18th March: Day of Parade

From 2:00pm in Liberty Square:- Free open air concert with Philip English & his band. Philip is one of the top Country and Irish singers in the country and anyone who feels like dancing to his music is welcome to do just that.

From 2:00pm to 5:00pm in Liberty Square:- Mobile Farm Unit (Under the Supervision of Agri-Aware)
From 2:00pm to 5:00pm in Liberty Square:- Professional Street Entertainers.
At 2.45pm Parade Commences, starting in Abbey Road offering this year a prize fund of over €3,000, to participants taking part.

Confirmed as taking part in this year’s Thurles St. Patrick’s Parade

A Viking re-enactment group.
Roman Army re-enactment group.
Seven marching bands.
Six Schools and their floats.
Numerous Vintage items.
Numerous Large Floats.
Local Sports Groups.
Walking Groups.
Commercial entries.

Of course St. Patrick’s Day in Thurles would not be complete without Dancing in The Premier Ballroom from 9:00pm to 12:00 midnight, (Organised by ‘The Club for Dancing,’) with music by ‘Checkers.’

Note: Large Floats participating in this event will receive up to €300 in a grant from the Thurles St. Patrick’s Day Committee. This grant of €300 is designed to help local community groups, sporting groups and schools etc. towards the cost of preparing a float for the parade and hopefully thus encourage even greater participation in this celebratory parade.

There will be presentation of prizes at 4:45pm in Liberty Square.

Note Also:

There will be a 50cents Bucket Collection from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on the day and helpers are needed with this collection. Everyone attending are asked to donate just 50cents, to defray the necessary expenses of hosting this enjoyable local event.
A number of Stewards are also needed to help out with traffic and crowd control, so please contact Tom Gleeson on Tel 087-9732837 if you would like to offer your assistance.
There is a League Match between Tipperary and Waterford at 2.30pm on the same day as this parade. Traffic should therefore avoid Abbey Road between 1.30pm and 4:00pm. No parking in Abbey Road or its car parks between those times and all are asked to assist policing in this matter.
Parking restrictions will be strictly in operation in Liberty Square from 11:00am until 5:00pm.
Traffic restrictions will be strictly in operation in Liberty Square from 2.30pm to 5:00pm.
Traffic going to the match via Holycross will be diverted to the old Sugar Factory road, i.e. Cabra Road, thus avoiding Abbey Road and the parade taking part.

For further information: Contact Tel 087-9732837 or Email dancingforpleasure@eircom.net

Will Prince Charles Prince of Wales Be Visiting Thurles?

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, the British heir apparent, is expected to visit Ireland in the next few months, but will he be visiting his ancestral home of Thurles, here in Co Tipperary?

Well, of course, he will have to receive a formal invitation. So hopefully one of our North Tipperary County Councillors, who hourly tune into Thurles.Info, (mainly to view what I am saying publically about their ability to govern) will see this blog and identify the possibility of “Donning their Chains of Office,” not to mention the obvious opportunity for photographic, TV and celebrity status, which could be then placed on their CV’s prior to the next local elections. So you never know, we could be lucky, after all this is Brain Awareness Week (BAW)

The Prince of Wales has made space in his diary for a three day trip to Ireland and will be visiting alone. Sources state that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has encouraged Prince Charles to make the trip, but the appointment of a British Ambassador to Ireland, to replace Mr Julian King, is delaying slightly the finalisation of his intended planned visit.

Prince Charles is a direct descendant of Viscount and Lady Thurles, through their eldest son, the Duke of Ormond. This same Duke’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Chesterfield, and their daughter Elizabeth Stanhope married John Lyon, 4th Earl Strathmore. (Click on image to view larger image of Family Tree). Six generations later in direct line was the 14th Earl Strathmore whose daughter, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married the future King George VI; and these are the grandparents of Prince Charles.

North Tipperary County Council aided by our Local Town Councillors failed to get an invitation out on time to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for her visit last year, resulting in a huge loss of future tourism revenue to the town. Instead she visited Cashel where they forgot to show her the grave of one of her ancestors Edmund Butler, Archbishop of Cashel.

By not coming to Thurles, regrettably Her Majesty missed out on seeing the Butler Chalice made in 1620 for Walter Butler the rightful 11th Earl of Ormond, his wife Ellane and Queen Elizabeth’s direct descendant.

Historical Chalices Of Thurles from George Willoughby on Vimeo.

The Ormond Butlers owned most of counties Kilkenny and Tipperary, including Thurles. In 1620, the year the chalice was made, the family was in deep trouble. The previous year their son, Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, who owned Thurles and lived in the Castle at the top of what is now Liberty Square, had been drowned while travelling to England, to answer charges of treason. Since 1617 Walter himself was in the notorious Fleet Prison in London for refusing to kowtow to King James I, the latter who had deprived him of the Ormond title and estates and given them to one of his cronies, Sir Richard Preston and his wife. Walter got out of jail only in 1625 when he got the title and part of the estates back from the next king, Charles I. The rest of the estates were only gotten back in 1629 and 1630 when Walter’s grandson, James Butler (Direct ancestor of Prince Charles) effectively bought the 14-year-old Preston heiress from her guardians and married her.

Thurles waits powerless as usual, in silent anticipation, to see if any of their elected public representatives of all “political persuasions,” really have any real power or leadership. By real power I mean the ability to grant, an art collection owned by the State, valued at €5m-€6m to the Crawford Gallery in Cork.

Maybe Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Minister Jimmy Deenihan, if approached, could “decentralise,” history stolen from us here in rural Ireland, presently housed in the National Museum supporting a Dublin economy. E.g. the Derrynaflan Hoard, the Faddan More Psalter, the Book of Dimma and the kept ever so secret Two-Mile-orris Silver Hoard, just to name a few visitor attractions.

Are we a ‘soft touch,’ here in County Tipperary?