Skeheenarinky () is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

in south-west

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named afte ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is a

dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a num ...

with a focal point at Skeheenarinky Cross where a school is located.

Location

Situated between the foothills of the Galtee Mountains and the low-lying farmland at the north end of Ballyporeen

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

. It lies on a stretch of the former main Cork-

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

road that was superseded by the M8 Motorway in 2008. This road is now designated as the

R639 The R639 road is one of Ireland's regional roads. Once designated the N8 national primary road (and before that some fractions were designated as the T6 and others as the T9), it was reclassified in stages as the R639 following the progressi ...

regional road.

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, ...

and

Cahir Cahir (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Iffa and Offa West. Location and access For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dubl ...

are approximately 10 km and 20 km respectively.

History

The Mitchelstown Caves are situated approximately 3 km. from Skeheenarinky Cross and were discovered in 1833 by a labourer quarrying on a small farm. Today the caves are a popular tourist attraction. Skeheenarinky was once the location of an extravagant

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

called

Galtee Castle Galtee Castle was a mansion that was situated on the foothills of the Galtee Mountains at Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, Ireland approximately 10 km. from Mitchelstown. Origins The original structure was built as a hunting lodge fo ...

, the original structure built for the 2nd

Earl of Kingston Earl of Kingston is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1768 for Edward King, 1st Viscount Kingston. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles Baron Kingston, of Rockingham in the County of Roscommon (created in 1764), Viscount ...

dated from the late 18th Century, it was later remodelled and expanded but was completely demolished c.1941. Former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, a ...

and British model/singer

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by '' The Sunday Peop ...

can trace ancestry to the area.

Amenities

Skeheenarinky National School was built in 1858 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in November 2008, a book chronicling its history was produced to mark the occasion. The building itself is notable for its cut

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

construction. Nearby Galty Cottage (c.1858) was built as a home for the teacher. It is known as 'Morrisseys' in recognition of a Mrs. Morrissey who taught at the school and lived there for fifty years. The school's primary catchment area comprises the Coolagaranroe

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

, this recorded a population of 565 at the 2016 national census. Skeheenarinky GAA is the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club.

References

External links

Community Website
{{County Tipperary Townlands of County Tipperary

Location

History

Amenities

Further reading

References

External links