Two-Mile Borris (also written Twomileborris or Two Mile Borris; and locally Borris or TMB) is a village in

County Tipperary County Tipperary () 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 after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The village is located on the L4202 road at the junction with the Ballyduff Road, close to the N75 and from

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

town centre. It is also situated 1 mile from junction 5 of the M8 motorway. Its population was 572 as of the 2016 census, up from 502 in 2006. It is situated in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Borris which is part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Twomileborris Two-Mile Borris (also written Twomileborris or Two Mile Borris; and locally Borris or TMB) is a village in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is located on the L4202 road at the junction with the Ballyduff Road, clos ...

in the ancient

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Eliogarty Eliogarty (Irish language, Irish: ''Éile Uí Fhógarta'') is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Thurles. The ...

History and etymology

The name ''Borris'' is generally believed to have come from the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

word for a borough, district or stronghold. The Irish name ''Buiríos Léith'' was historically anglicised as ''Borrisleigh'' or ''Borris Leigh''. The use of ''Leigh'' in the placename may be related to the monastic settlement of Liathmore-Mochoemóg in

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

, about a mile and a half to the north-east of the village. Those who prefer the Irish name of ''Buirgheas Dhá Mhíle'' say that the name refers to King Mile, ancestor of

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall Noígíallach (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...

. In addition to the 7th century monastic site at Liathmore, evidence of ancient settlement in the immediate village area includes

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

ringwork A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the site ...

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

and medieval ecclesiastical sites in the

s of Blackcastle, Garraun and Borris. The Norman tower house (castle) at Two-Mile Borris is four storeys in height and now incorporated into a farmyard at the west side of the village. As of the mid-19th century, the village was the property of Hugh Nugent O'Reilly. The local Catholic church, Saint James's church, was built .

Amenities and facilities

Two-Mile Borris has a primary school, Catholic church, two pubs and two shops. There are a number of

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

s. The village is located at the edge of the

Golden Vale The Golden Vale () is the historic name given to an area of rolling pastureland in the province of Munster in southwestern Ireland. The area covers parts of three counties: Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Considered the best land in Ireland ...

and the

Bog of Allen The Bog of Allen () is a large raised bog in the centre of Republic of Ireland, Ireland between the rivers River Liffey, Liffey and River Shannon, Shannon. The bog's 958 square kilometres (370 square miles) stretch into counties County Offaly, ...

and so the quality of the land varies around the area, with most of the best farming land located to the west of the village. Parts of the land to the east are too boggy to be used, even for extracting turf. The village proper is bounded on the west by the Black River, a tributary of River Drish, which goes on to join

River Suir The River Suir ( ; or ''Abhainn na Siúire'' ) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean through Waterford after a distance of . The catchment area of the Suir is 3,610 km2.

. The approach, on the western side of the village, is dominated by a Norman tower house. In June 2011, a

planning application Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

was approved by

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major strategic infra ...

for a casino, hotel and racetrack, proposed to be known as the Tipperary Venue. In September 2011, then

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Alan Shatter Alan Joseph Shatter (born 14 February 1951) is an Irish lawyer, author and former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence from 2011 to 2014. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin S ...

confirmed that the proposed casino was not compatible with Ireland's gambling legislation and "ruled out" based on a cabinet decision. The proposed development's planning application, which had been opposed by

An Taisce An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland (; "An Taisce" meaning "the store" or "the treasury"), established on a provisional basis in September 1946, and incorporated as a company based on an “association not for profit” in June 1948, is ...

and others, expired in 2018.

Notable people

* Martin Hayes (born 1959),

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and current

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bisho ...

, grew up in Borris

References

External links

Website of TMB Community Development Company
{{County Tipperary Towns and villages in County Tipperary Two

History and etymology

Amenities and facilities

Notable people

See also

References

External links