In Irish, "Tiobraid Árann" means "The Well of Ara"—a reference to the River Ara that flows through the town. The well is located in the townland of Glenbane, which is in the parish of Lattin and Cullen. This is where the River Ara rises. Little is known of the historical significance of the well. The town had a medieval foundation and became a population centre in the early 13th century. Its ancient fortifications have disappeared, often dismantled to be reused in new buildings. Its central area is characterized by a wide streets radiating from the principal thoroughfare of Main Street. Two historical monuments are located in the Main Street. One is a bronze statue of Charles Kickham. The other is the Maid of Erin statue, erected to commemorate the Irish patriots, Allen, Larkin and O'Brien, who are collectively known as the Manchester Martyrs. The Maid of Erin is a freestanding monument; erected in 1907, it was relocated to a corner site on the main street in 2003. It is made of carved limestone. A woman stands on a base depicting the portraits of the three executed men. The portraits carry the names in Irish of each man. She is situated on stone-flagged pavement behind wrought-iron railings, with an information board. This memorial to the Manchester Martyrs is a landmark piece of sculpture now located in a prominent corner site. The choice of a female figure as the personification of Ireland for such a memorial was common at the time. It is a naturalistic and evocative piece of work, made all the more striking by the lifelike portraits of the executed men. The first engagement of the Irish War of Independence took place at nearby Solloghead Beg Quarry on 21 January 1919 when Dan Breen and Seán Treacy led a group of volunteers in an attack on members of the Royal Irish Constabulary who were transporting gelignite. The town was the site of a large military barracks of the British Army in the 50 years before Irish Independence and served as a military hospital during World War I. During the War of Independence, these barracks were a base for the Black and Tans. On 30 September 2005, Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, in a gesture of reconciliation, unveiled the newly refurbished Memorial Arch of the barracks in the presence of several ambassadors and foreign emissaries, military attachés and town dignitaries; a detachment of the Local Defence Force, the Number 1 Irish Army Band and various ex-service organisations paraded. In a rare appearance, the Royal Munster Fusiliers banner was carried to mark the occasion. However, given the notoriety of the place in the folk memory, few townspeople attended. The Arch is the only remaining porch of what was the officers' mess and has panels mounted bearing the names of fallen members of the Irish Defence Forces, and American, Australian, and United Kingdom armed services. The Arch was renovated and maintained by the Tipperary Remembrance Trust.
New Tipperary
In 1888–89, tenants of the local landlord, Arthur Smith Barry, withheld their rents in solidarity with his tenants in County Cork. They were evicted. Led by Fr. David Humphreys and William O'Brien, they decided to build a new town on land outside Barry's control. The area now known Dillon Street and Emmet Street in Tipperary town was the centre of this development. It was built by local labour but with funds raised in Australia and the United States. The high point was 12 April 1890, when a row of shops called the William O'Brien Arcade was opened, providing shops for some of the business people who had been evicted from the centre of the town. Eventually, compromise was reached, and the tenants returned to the 'Old Tipperary'.
It is home to Tipperary Racecourse, which is located at Limerick Junction. It has a large agricultural catchment area in west Tipperary and east County Limerick and was historically a significant market town. Today, it still boasts large butter making and milk processing industries. The town is sometimes erroneously believed to be the county seat; this honour belongs instead to Clonmel.
The song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", which became popular among the British military as a marching song, was authored by Jack Judge, whose grandparents came from Tipperary, and Henry James "Harry" Williams. The U.S. Army included a song by John Alden Carpenter called "The Home Road" in its official 1918 song book; it includes the lyric "For the long, long road to Tipperary is the road that leads me home". A song of remembrance is "Tipperary so far away", which commemorates one of its famous sons, Seán Treacy; in an address to the people of Ballyporeen on 3 June 1984, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, quoted a line from this song: "And I'll never more roam, from my own native home, in Tipperary so far away". There are other songs also with a Tipperary theme such as "Tipperary on My Mind", "Slievenamon", "Goodbye Mick", "The Galtee Mountain Boy", "Katy Daly", "Tipperary", and "Forty Shades of Green", written by Johnny Cash. Gary Moore's song "Business as Usual" tells about him and his love: "I lost my virginity to a Tipperary woman". On Seventy Six The Band's 2006 release Gone Is Winter, the song "Carry On" also states that it is "a long way to Tipperary". Shane MacGowan's song "Broad Majestic Shannon" includes the lyric "Heard the men coming home from the fair at Shinrone, their hearts in Tipperary wherever they go".
