Tybroughney, statutory spelling Tibberaghny ( ga, Tiobra Fhachna), is a

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 ...

in the barony of

Iverk Iverk () is a barony in the south-west of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The size of the barony is . There are 15 civil parishes in Iverk. The chief town today is Piltown. The N24 crosses the barony. Iverk lies at the south-west of the county, wi ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the ...

in Ireland. The parish comprises a single

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 ...

, also called Tibberaghny. It lies on the north bank of the

River Suir The River Suir ( ; ga, an tSiúr 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.

facing

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for ...

, while the Lingaun river separates it from

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 ...

to the west.

Name

The name ''Tiobra Fhachna'' means "well of

Saint Fachtna Fachtna of Rosscarbery, known also as Fachanan, was the founder of the monastery of Rosscarbery (Ros Ailithir), County Cork. He died around 600. Life He established a monastery and school in the area now known as Rosscarbery towards the end of ...

", who was at Lismore Abbey in the seventh century. Various anglicised spellings include Tibberaghny, Tiberaghny, Tipperaghny, Tybroughney, Tyburoughny, Tibroughny, Tybrachny.

History

Saint Fachtna's well, the

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

from which the townland is named, lies near the ruined former parish church. Saint

Modomnoc St. Modomnóc of Ossory (also ''Domnóc'' and ''Dominic'') (died c. 550) was an Irish saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. How ...

reputedly lived as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

in the area in the sixth century, and a

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

was celebrated there on 13 February, his feast day. The church was built before the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of Kingdom of England, England then claimed sovereignty ...

, and the parish formerly belonged to the Diocese of Lismore rather than the

Diocese of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been ...

. A pillar in the churchyard is carved in the style of a Celtic

high cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...

, of which it may be a remnant. In the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second l ...

the parish was united to Whitechurch parish by 1821, and in 1833 both were among five civil parishes in the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

Fiddown Fiddown () is a small village in Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the south of the county just off the N24 road, 58 kilometres from Kilkenny city. The village is on the banks of the River Suir, near the border with County Waterford to whic ...

. In the

Irish Catholic church Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

it is part of Templeorum parish. The site is at the limit of access upstream on the Suir for medieval sea-going vessels. A

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...

settlement here was destroyed in 980. Prince John of England built a castle here in 1185, shortly after the Norman invasion, to guard the northern border of Waterford. John's castle may have been built on the site of the extant Tybroughney Castle built in the 15th century, or a

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

on a now-empty height near by. The parish was in County Tipperary as late as 1536, but had been transferred to County Kilkenny by 1649.

Population

Censuses recorded population by townland until 1911.

Transport

The section of the N24 road between

Carrick-on-Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on th ...

and

Piltown Piltown (), historically known as Ballypoyle, is a village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It lies on the R698 regional road, which was the N24 national primary road before the locality was bypassed in 2002. Approaching Piltown from Carrick-on- ...

runs through the north of the townland. Further south is the Limerick–Rosslare railway line, between Carrick-on-Suir station and Waterford station. (The nearer station at

closed in 1964.)

Footnotes

References

{{reflist Civil parishes of County Kilkenny Townlands of County Kilkenny Holy wells in Ireland