Newcastle in south Tipperary has an older history of castle ownership and river trade. The mountains above it also hold a substantial memorial to Liam Lynch, fatally wounded nearby during the Civil War.
Illustration, 1916 commemoration memorial, Newcastle, County Tipperary
⊕Recorded locationNewcastle52.27220° N · 7.81123° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
An Caisleán Nua· Irish · main form · validated name
Newcastle· English · main form
Place & story
The castle beside the Suir
The castle ruin on the River Suir was already a prominent feature of Newcastle when Samuel Lewis described the parish in 1837. He traced its ownership from the Birmingham family to the Prendergasts and then to the Perrys around the time of the Williamite Revolution. The older church was also ruinous, with its western window and parts of its walls surviving. Nearby, the Catholic chapel had been built about twenty years before Lewis's account and had subsequently been enlarged.[2]
A fair moved across the river
Lewis records a practical arrangement behind Newcastle's fair. Although the patent belonged to Mullogh parish on the opposite bank of the Suir, the fair was held at Newcastle by agreement because it offered better facilities for trading. Its date was 12 February. A dispensary, police station and fortnightly petty sessions added to the village's local functions. The arrangement shows that river boundaries did not prevent neighbouring communities from organising trade where it was most convenient.[2]
People & connections
Liam Lynch in the Knockmealdowns
On 10 April 1923, Liam Lynch, chief of staff of the anti-Treaty IRA, was wounded by National Army soldiers in the Knockmealdown Mountains. He asked his companions to escape, leaving him to be captured. After being carried down the mountain and receiving medical attention, he died later that day. The National Museum preserves the uniform he was wearing, including a waistcoat marked by the wound. The surviving clothing provides a direct material connection with a death that came during the final weeks of the Civil War.[3]
A monument built by volunteers
Former comrades and supporters worked with Lynch's family to establish a memorial in the mountains. A committee drawn mainly from Newcastle, Goatenbridge, Ardfinnan and Knocklofty raised funds at home and in the United States. Its account records voluntary labour and sandstone gathered from the mountainside. The monument was unveiled in April 1935. James McGrath of Killeigh, Newcastle, and Maurice O'Gorman of Ardfinnan served as joint treasurers, recording subscriptions to the undertaking. The memorial became the focus of continuing local commemorations.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Newcastle — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Newcastle, South Tipperary — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
245people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Newcastle, South Tipperary — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Newcastle, South Tipperary — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
186people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Newcastle, South Tipperary — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Newcastle, Tipperary — Census town, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: census town
213people · 1986
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Newcastle, Tipperary — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Newcastle, South Tipperary
Published census settlement populations
352people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames