Golden () is a village in
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after ...
in Ireland. The village is situated on 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. . It is located between the towns of
Cashel and
Tipperary on the
N74 road. In older times the village was known as Goldenbridge. It is also a parish in the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
The Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly ( ga, Ard-Deoise Chaisil agus Imligh) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in mid-western Ireland and the metropoli ...
, and is in the historical
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 ...
of
Clanwilliam.
History
The bridge at Golden, which straddles an island in 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. , was the scene of an event of some significance in
1690, when
King William III
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
renewed, by letter in his own hand, the Royal Charter of the city of
Cashel as an act of gratitude to the people of Cashel for the hospitality received by his followers following their
attack on Limerick. There is a medieval castle on the island, currently in a ruinous state. Located in the castle ruins is a memorial sculptured bust of
Thomas MacDonagh
Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising ...
(1878–1916), Tipperary-born poet and leader of the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with t ...
in 1916.
The
Augustinian Athassel Priory is located south of the village. The abbey was founded by
William FitzAdelm de Burgo (
William de Burgh
William de Burgh (; ; ; la, de Burgo; c.1160–winter 1205/06) was the founder of the House of Burgh (later surnamed Burke or Bourke) in Ireland and elder brother of Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent and Geoffrey de Burgh, Bishop of Ely.
I ...
) in the last decades of the 12th century. It was once the largest abbey in Ireland and was surrounded by a small town named Athassel which was burned twice, in 1319 by Lord
Maurice Fitzthomas and in 1419 by
Bryan O'Brien. No fragment of the settlement survives today, though an aerial survey exposes to view, a faint tracery of old foundations close to the Abbey ruin.
Father Theobold Mathew, OFM (Cap), was born at
Thomastown Castle, close to Golden on 10 October 1790. It is also sometimes claimed that
Rathclogheen House, close to the castle, was the place of his birth – that residence being part of the extensive family estate of the Mathew family,
Earls Landaff. Father Mathew was the best known Irish temperance reformer and founded the
Abstinence Society in 1838 and became widely known as the "Apostle of Temperance". To mark the centenary of the foundation of the society, a statue in his honour was raised at
Thomastown Cross in 1938 and is a visible landmark on the N74 road, west of Golden.
One time
Cashel Mayor
Sir John Judkin-FitzGerald 2nd Bt of
Lisheen
Lisheen Mine is a former lead- zinc- silver mine located between the villages of Moyne and Templetuohy in County Tipperary, Ireland. In the Rathdowney Trend, Lisheen was an underground mine where the Lisheen deposit lies at an average depth of ...
, & High Sheriff of
Tipperary s was his father, Col Sir Thomas Judkin-FitzGerald (Uniacke) 1st Bt of Lisheen before him during the 1798 United Rebellionlived at Golden where his second wife Lady Geraldine FitzGerald d/o
Preston FitzGerald of Dublin and niece of Major General
William Pringle (of 1812
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
Battle) died of infection some days after giving birth to their only child and daughter Geraldine Caroline in 1839.
Amenities
The local church, the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, is in the parish of Golden & Kilfeacle in the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
The Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly ( ga, Ard-Deoise Chaisil agus Imligh) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in mid-western Ireland and the metropoli ...
.
There are two hamlets close by at Kilfeacle and Thomastown, the latter being an estate village which co-existed with the demesne of Thomastown Castle, home of the Matthew family, Earls of
Llandaff
Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...
. The valley of the Suir is a fertile agricultural area and is part of the region known as the "
Golden Vale
The Golden Vale ()
is an area of rolling pastureland in the civil province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. Covering parts of three counties, Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, it is the best land in Ireland for dairy farming.
Historically it ...
". The
N74 connects Golden with Tipperary Town and
Cashel, while the
L3121 links it with nearby
New Inn.
Golden contains a sports field, home to the local club of the
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 ...
, Golden–Kilfeacle, once called the ''Golden Fontenoys''. The club's facilities include an indoor hall and floodlighting.
The village, which had a population a population of 267 as of the 2016 census,
is home to a number of local businesses including an agricultural museum, a dog cafe, butchers, a supermarket and several public houses.
See also
*
List of museums in the Republic of Ireland
This list of museums in Republic of Ireland contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artisti ...
References
External links
Tipperary Agricultural & Heritage Museum website
Parishes of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
Towns and villages in County Tipperary
Clanwilliam, County Tipperary