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 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 t ...
,
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 numb ...
with a focal point at Skeheenarinky Cross
where a school is located.
Location
Situated between the foothills of the
Galtee Mountains
Galtymore or Galteemore () is a mountain in the province of Munster, Ireland. At , it is one of Ireland's highest mountains, being the 12th-highest on the Arderin list, and 14th-highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Galtymore has the 4th-hig ...
and the low-lying farmland at the north end of
Ballyporeen
Ballyporeen ( Irish: ''Béal Átha Póirín'') is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. The 2016 census recorded a village population of 318.
Location
It lies in the Galtee-Vee Valley with the Galtee Mountains to the north and the Knockmealdo ...
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 authorit ...
.
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 c ...
road that was superseded by the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 progress ...
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, 50 ...
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 Dubli ...
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 called
Galtee Castle, 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 o ...
,
Garret FitzGerald 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 Peopl ...
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 whe ...
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
Skeheenarinky GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Tipperary, Ireland. The club, based in the townland of Skeheenarinky in the parish of Ballyporeen, is part of the South division of Tipperary GAA. The club fields hurling teams ...
is the local
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...
club.
Further reading
*''Hard Days and Happy Days'' - A History of Skeheenarinky National School, by Ed O'Riordan and Karol DeFalco, published by the National School Parents' Council, 2008.
References
External links
Community Website
{{County Tipperary
Townlands of County Tipperary