Newport (, formerly ) is a town 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 ...

. It is in the

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 Owney and Arra. At the 2022 census, Newport's population was 2,183.

Location

Newport is located approximately 8 km from Birdhill and 16 km from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. The Newport River, a tributary of the Mulcair (or Mulkear) River and it flows through the middle of the town where it is joined by the Cully River. Newport is nestled in the foothills of Silvermine mountain range. The highest of these mountains is

Keeper Hill Keeper Hill or Slievekimalta ()Slievekimalta or Keeper Hill

Lough Derg and the villages of Murroe, Killaloe and Ballina.

History

The original settlement in Newport dates back centuries before the Norman invasions. After the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...

, Richard Warren Waller acquired Cully Castle sometime in the 1650s. He was the son of Edward Waller and Margaret Glascoke. He was granted of land in the vicinity. After the war, the castle was in ruins and was rebuilt as Castle Waller. A

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 ...

still bears that name. He died in 1676. Vice-Admiral Robert Otway and Sir Arthur Otway, 3rd Baronet along with the other Waller baronets are direct descendants. During this time the settlement was changed from the Irish name Tulach Sheasta to the English Newport. The town contains an old courthouse and a jail called the Bridewell, built in 1862–63 on land owned by Sir Edward Waller. The Courthouse was used for the trial of minor offences; on occasion it was used for preliminary hearings for more serious crimes, before they were referred to a higher circuit court. The building contains eight cells, two day rooms and two limestone staircases. It remains today on Jail street and now houses the Peter Dee Academy of Music. During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

, Newport was the scene of various incidents, including the shaving of a woman's head for keeping company of policemen and the burning down of several business premises (Cullen's Shop and Daly's Public House) and houses (Clareview former Charter School). The RIC barracks moved from centre of the village to Clareview. On 15 May 1921, the Newport brigade planned an attack on District Inspector Harold Biggs. He was ambushed at Coolboreen returning from dinner at the Barrington family shooting lodge, Glenculloo Lodge, on the river in the foothills of Keeper Hill. He was shot and killed in the ambush together with Winifred Barrington, daughter of Sir Charles Barrington of what was then Glenstal Castle and now

Glenstal Abbey Glenstal Abbey is a Catholic Church, Catholic Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation located in Murroe, County Limerick, Ireland. It is dedicated to Saint Joseph and Saint Columba. In July 2024, Col ...

. Among the members of the raiding party was Patrick Ryan (after whom the Newport GAA pitch is named). Also killed during the revolutionary period were Sgt John Walsh of the RIC and Patrick Gilligan, a former soldier, shot on 22 May 1922. This was after the treaty had been signed.

Education

There are two primary schools (Convent of Mercy Primary School and the Boys' National School) in the town, and two secondary level schools (St Mary's Secondary School and Newport College). In 2018, St Mary's was ranked 148 out of 500 schools in the Irish Times poll of top secondary schools. Only 8% of the population of Newport have either no formal education or are educated to primary level. This is much lower than county average (13.4%) and state average (12.5%). Additionally, a higher number of people complete their junior cert level (18%) and leaving certificate level (22%) when compared to county (17.7% & 21.2%) and state (14.5 & 18%).

Transport

Newport is served by

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

who run a service three times a day to and from

City. On Fridays Bus Éireann operates a bus from Newport to

Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...

via

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 near ...

. The nearest railway station Birdhill railway station is 8.5 km away in the neighbouring village of Birdhill. The main road through Newport is the R503 and the M7 lies 12 km to the west.

Amenities

Churches

There were two churches in the town. The

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church, the Church of St. John's, was built in 1766 and had been the major church in Newport until the building of a 'Mass house' at the end of the 18th century after the relaxing of the penal laws. The

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church, also called St John's, was located on Chapel Lane and built circa 1796. The last service in the Church of Ireland (Anglican) church was held in 1964 and the church was later demolished. The church graveyard remains. It is located on Church Road. Today, there is only a Catholic church in the town. This church, the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, was constructed in 1933 and is located on Church Street. It is part of the

Catholic parish In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecc ...

of ''Newport, Birdhill and Toor'' which is in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.

Services

There is a Garda station and an unmanned fire station (which has a pager notice system) in the town. Newport also has a post office, the Mulcair Credit Union, a butcher, restaurants and fast food outlets, a veterinary clinic, music academy, and mechanic and motor parts shop.

Recreation

Three kilometres from the town there is the beauty spot called Clare Glens. It is a wooded area along the banks of the Clare River.

Sport

Association football

Founded in 1970, by the 2016/2017 season Newport Town AFC had a playing membership in excess of 300 and 26 teams. The club fields teams from U.6 to Junior with participation in three leagues, LDSL for schoolboy teams, NTSFL for schoolgirl teams and the LDMC for youth and junior teams. Derryleigh Park, the home of Newport Town AFC, is located just outside the town of Newport and has two sand-based playing pitches, a 60-metre by 40-metre floodlit astro-turf pitch and a modern clubhouse with four changing rooms. The club's pitch was previously located in "Freigh", but the new pitch is located in Derryleigh.

GAA

Newport GAA sports facilities are based at Páirc Chuimhneacháin Pádraig Uí Riain locally known as Lacken Park. It features a full-size field with floodlights with a small stand, a Juvenile field with lights and a small training field. There is also a clubs room. It is named after Patrick Ryan.

Other sports

Other sports clubs in the area include Mulcair Golf Society, Newport Athletic Club, and Newport Taekwondo Club.

People

* Denis Carey, composer and member of the Brock McGuire Band * William Lee (1941–2024), Catholic

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Waterford and town of Lismore in Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1838, and is still used by the Roman Catholic Church. Hi ...

* Sharlene Mawdsley (born 1998), Irish athlete, 400 metres * Denis Ryan, Irish-Canadian folk musician, born Newport * Patrick Ryan (1898–1944), politician, TD for Tipperary *

Edmund Waller Edmund Waller, 3 March 1606 to 21 October 1687, was a poet and politician from Buckinghamshire. He sat as MP for various constituencies between 1624 and 1687, and was one of the longest serving members of the English House of Commons. Althoug ...

(1797–1851), fourth baronet of Newport

References

External links

Newport Development Group website
(archived 2008) {{Authority control Towns and villages in County Tipperary Owney and Arra