Templemore

Templemore (Irish: An Teampall Mór, meaning 'the big church') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland.

The N62 national route connects the town to the main Dublin-Limerick motorway (M7 – Junction 22) and Roscrea north of the parish.

By the 8th century, the territory of Ancient Éile had broken up into a number of petty kingdoms: the O'Carroll occupied the northern portion, the O'Spillanes held Ileagh, the Eóganacht Chaisil had annexed Middle Third.

Monastic settlements were located at the site of Teine's fort, 'Land of the Monks' (Irish: Farran na Manna).

A holy man named Silean (anglicised as Sheelan) is reputed to have accompanied St Patrick and to have established a monastery in the area.

The townland on which the town is built is Kiltillane (Irish: Cill tSilean), meaning Saint Sheelan's Church.

[8] This building and its manor lands were occupied by the Butlers and were later leased to the families of Purcell of Loughmore (Loughmoe) and Morris of Knockagh.

Around 1695 the Butlers sold extensive lands to an English family called Carden[11] from Cheshire, who settled in the area and also located at Barnane and Fishmoyne.

under whose auspices the public buildings were erected, and by whom the ground on which the town stands was granted at a nominal annual rent.

Quoting from a contemporary newspaper commentary of 1861, when the Priory was still under construction:The noble Gothic pile of finely chiselled limestone, with its battlements, turrets, buttresses and extensive façade, and spacious arched doorway; the architraves of grouped columns, retreating to the depth of several feet, convey to the mind an idea of architectural grandeur seldom associated with the country residences of our gentry.

There were extensive gardens and a lot of money was spent on them: The house itself consists of sixty rooms, and the sum of, we understand £20,000 in round numbers, has been expended so far upon the building, – Upon entering the grand hall, through the massive oaken doorway, replete with medieval decorations, the visitor finds that ‘The Priory’ has been erected in a style of magnificence not very generally met with – it is floored en mosaique, in walnut and oak; the peculiar grotesque spirit of the Gothic style is not permitted to run riot through the rich oak carving, while that more beautiful element, tracery enters largely into the interior ornamentation – the oak painted ceiling richly stuccoed and the polished armour shields an banners that hang around with the erect figures in full suits of armour; the wide staircase in massive oak – the great doorways leading to the drawing–room at one side and to the library at the other – the rich and mellow light that comes through the beautiful stained glass window that forms the upper portion of the Gothic entrance, and through the lancet shaped sashes – all this bespeak a profuse liberality and taste of order.

Lewis' directory of 1837 lists the principal landowners in the locality at the time: Lloydsborough is the seat of J. Lloyd, Esq.

[15]McCan Barracks, originally called "Richmond barracks", was constructed in 1809 on the 17-acre (69,000 m2) site donated by the town's founder and largest landowner Sir John Carden, ancestor of Sir John Carden, 6th Baronet (1892-1935), who also donated the adjoining 40 acres (160,000 m2) for training and recreation.

The new barracks consisted of 2 squares, surrounded by company lines, stores, married quarters, officer's mess, military prison, church and hospital.

Completely surrounded by a high wall, with protective/defensive posts at each corner, it had accommodation for 25 officers, married quarters for 48 other ranks, and 767 unmarried personnel.

[18] Since February 1964, the barracks has been the site of the Garda Síochána College, the centre for training Ireland's police force.

When the estates locally known as The Park were built in the late 1950s, the entrance gates and avenue were removed by the town council.

The church, along with St Mary's School, the Rectory, adjacent cottage and lodge, were built in 1790 on land donated by Sir John Craven Carden.

His son, Brendan, who was a member of Winston Churchill's government in the United Kingdom during World War II, was born in Templemore.

Knockagh Castle, near Drom
The Big Church or Templemore Abbey
West entrance. April 2011.
Black Castle Town Park 2007
Mary Street