The Premier County

Most of us grew up with the idea that the Premier County tag re­ferred to Tipperary's prowess and success in the game of hurling. Sure, the G.A.A was founded at Thurles, four of the seven founders were from the county and we won the first All-Ireland! And we were first in the Roll of Honour for senior hurling titles for decades until the Stripy Men from Kilkenny went ahead of us in the twenty-first century. This was galling to most of us when we recall the long period from 1922 to 1967 when they failed to beat us in a decent match!

But the Premier tag is a recogni­tion of our superiority in many other areas of human activity. It sug­gests leadership qualities and bravery in the face of opposition. A good exam­ple of this was shown by St Ruadhan from my own place. Diarmuid, the High King of Tara, tried Ruadhan for giving sanctuary to the King's alienated foster son. Noth­ing fazed, Ruadhan cursed Tara: 'Desolate be Tara forever!' He also forecast a terrible death to the King, which came true. He was stabbed by his foster son. Wounded, he fled to a house, which was set on fire. Seeking to escape the flame, Diarmuid scrambled into a vat of ale and was finished off when a burning ridge pole fell on his head! You don't mess with a Tipperary man!

Many reasons are given for the county getting the Premier tag. The farmers of the Golden Vale will credit it to having the best land in the coun­try. The Butlers arrived with Henry II, owned most of Tipperary and re­mained the premier Anglo-Norman family. There are less-noble reasons. The Premier County had an unri­valled reputation for lawlessness in the nineteenth century. A return of all crimes and outrages from July 1836 to December 1837 yielded ratios per 1,000 of the population of 1.52 for all Ireland and 2.85 for county Tipperary. In fact, there is a view that the proc­lamation of two counties in Tipperary in 1838 was based on law and order needs. Another argument, attributed to a Christian Brother in Thurles, who used to tell his class that Tipperary was the Premier County for supply­ing recruits to the British army! There may be substance in this as eighteen men, either from the county or con­nected with it, were awarded the Vic­toria Cross.

I have failed to find information on who or when the tag Premier was given to the county. It has been attributed to Thomas Da­vis, who was editor of the Nation newspaper in the 1840s. As a tribute to the nationalist feeling in Tipperary he said that 'where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows.'

The first use of the tag has been found in the Nation on October 8, 1864. It appears in a report of an aborted boxing match. The con­temporary sport of boxing was for­bidden at the time because it was un­regulated and cruel. Boxing matches were organised in remote parts of the country and attracted large crowds not only for the spectacle but for the betting opportunities. Such a match, between two English boxers, Coburn and Mace, was organised to take place between Gouldscross Railway Station and Cashel but was post­poned because of a failure to agree on a referee. In the meantime, the Constabulary became aware of it and drafted in large number of police into the area, determined that the match wouldn't take place. Because of the failure to agree to a referee the match was abandoned anyway. However, the newspaper atbibuted its failure to take place to the vigilance of the po­lice and the determination of the peo­ple of Tipperary, the premier county of Ireland, that 'such a debasing and in­human spectacle of English customs and English sport was prevented.'

I'll leave the final word to the Nationalist. In a report on the visit of John Redmond to Tipperary on April 8, 1910, the newspaper commented on the impressive reception he re­ceived: 'It is only frtting that he should make his appeal in the heart of the great fighting county, which is regard­ed as the pulse of Ireland by reason of the prominent and strenuous part it takes in every struggle for Irish rights.'

The Stonethrowers

Tipperary has a seoond tag, The Stonethrowers. The origin of this is difficult to find. Tradition has it that it was a cross-country hurling match between Tipperary and Kilkenny that took place in the vicinity of Fenner long before the GAA was founded and finished with Tipperary losing the day and, having failed to beat the Cats fair and square, threw stones at them, thereby gaining the unenviable title of 'Tipperary Stone Throwers.' This would put the rivalry between the counties as much older and pre-dating the strong and determined loyalty and pride in parish and county that came with the foundation of the GAA.

If the tradition is true, it's a bit of a blot on ihe character of the men of Tipperary, depicting them as people who are unable to take their beating. Stonethrowing is also associated with anti-police activity and there is anoth­er suggestion that the tag originated following an altercation with the Brit­ish army at some stage. The activity also suggests a kind of helplessness against superior forces and the last throw of the dice for a beaten peo­ple. Not a very good image and in stark contrast to the opinion of people outside the county who believe that Tipperary people 'have a superiority complex and feel that they are the best at everything.

[Ed. Note: On an apparently unrelated but like-named note, ‘The Stonethrowers' moni­ker shows up in America, and is also tied to Tipperary (though, perhaps, for less 'auspi­cious' reasons).

After the Erie Canal was finished, many Irish people settled west of Syracuse, New York on a hill overlooking the canal. This area became known as Tipperary Hill. When the city first installed traffic signal lights in 1925, they placed one at a major intersection in the main business district on Tipperary Hill, at the comer of Tomp­kins Street and Milton Avenue. Local Irish youths, incensed that the “British" red appeared above the “Irish” green, threw stones at the signal and broke the red light. John "Huckle" Ryan, then alderman of the Tip­perary Hill section, requested that the traffic signal be hung with the green above the red in deference to the Irish residents. This was done, but soon New York State stepped in, and city officials reversed the colors.

The red fights were again broken reg­ularly. Members of a group called Tipperary Hill Protective Association addressed the town rulers. On March 17, 1928, Commis­sioner Bradley met with Tipp Hill residents, who told him that the light would continue to be vandalized. The city leaders relented, and green was again above the red light, where it remains. It is said to be the only traf­fic light in the U.S. where the green light is on top. At the site is a statue commemorat­ing the Stone Throwers.]