County Tipperary

Birding County Tipperary

County Tipperary (Irish: Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland situated in the province of Munster. Tipperary was one of the first Irish counties to be established in the 13th century.Tipperary is famous for its horse breeding industry and is the home of Coolmore Stud, which is the largest thoroughbred breeding operation in the world. The County forms a large part of the Golden Vale (or Vein) of Munster, boasting a rich and fertile agricultural landscape. The County particularly nurtures the ancient game of hurling and its teams have regularly been champions of Ireland since the 19th century.The region is part of the central plain of Ireland, but the diverse terrain contains several mountain ranges: the Knockmealdown, the Galtee, the Arra Hills and the Silvermine Mountains. Most of the county is drained by the River Suir; the north-western part by tributaries of the River Shannon; the eastern part by the River Nore; the south-western corner by the Munster Blackwater. No part of the county touches the coast. The centre is known as ‘the Golden Vale’, a rich pastoral stretch of land in the Suir basin which extends into counties Limerick and Cork.Kevin Collins chose Yellowhammer to illustrate this page as Tipperary is dominated by farmland. He took the photo near Clonmel in November 2014