Ormond Upper (

Irish 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 ...

: ''Urumhain Uachtarach'') is a

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 ...

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 th ...

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 ...

. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is

Toomevara Toomevara, officially Toomyvara (), is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. The village is at the junction on the R445 where it meets the R499 regional road. The village was bypassed in December 2010 by the M7 Dublin - Limerick motorway. It ...

. The barony lies between

Ormond Lower Ormond Lower (Irish: ''Urumhain Íochtarach'') is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Nenagh. The barony lies between Ormond Upper to the south-east (w ...

to the north (whose chief town is

Nenagh Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the ...

Kilnamanagh Upper Kilnamanagh Upper ( Irish: ''Cill na Manach Uachtarach'') is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Borrisoleigh. The barony lies between Ormond Upper to ...

to the south (whose chief town is

Borrisoleigh Borrisoleigh () is a small town in County Tipperary, Ireland. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 679. In recent years the population has exceeded 1,000 while historically the population has been around 8,000. It is in the ecclesiastical ...

Owney and Arra Owney and Arra (Irish: ''Uaithne agus Ara'') is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Newport. The barony lies between Ormond Lower to the north (whose ...

to the west (whose chief town is Newport) and

Ikerrin Ikerrin (Irish: ''Uí Chairín'') is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Roscrea. The barony lies between Eliogarty to the south (whose chief town is Th ...

to the east (whose chief town is

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland, which in 2016 had a population of 5,446. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Saint Crónán of Roscrea, parts of which rem ...

). The territory is currently administered by

Tipperary County Council Tipperary County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Thiobraid Árann) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It came into operation on 3 June ...

. The O'Mearas had an extensive territory in the barony; the name of their chief residence, Tuaim-ui-Meara, is still retained in the town of Toomavara.

Legal context

Baronies were created after 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 England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanc ...

as divisions of

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and were used for the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

túath which had submitted to the Crown.

Modern times

When County Tipperary was split into

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South Ridings in 1836, Ormond Upper was allocated to the north riding. However, the neighbouring barony of Kilnamanagh was split into Upper and Lower half-baronies, being allocated to the north and south ridings respectively.

Towns, villages and townlands of the barony

Silvermines Silvermines, historically known as Bellagowan (), is a village in County Tipperary in Ireland. It lies immediately north of the Silvermine mountain range and takes its name from the extensive mines of lead, zinc, copper, baryte and silver nearb ...

Civil parishes of the barony

This tableDatabase of Ireland - civil parishes.
/ref> lists an historical geographical sub-division of the barony known as 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

(not to be confused with an

Ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

). Note: While most of the town of Nenagh is located in Ormond Lower, the civil parish of Nenagh is almost evenly split between the baronies of Upper and Lower Ormond.

References

External links