County Tipperary, Ireland Genealogy

Guide to County Tipperary ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
County Tipperary (Irish: Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster. The county is divided between two local government authorities, North Tipperary (with its administrative centre in Nenagh) and South Tipperary, (with its administrative centre in Clonmel). In 2012 North and South Tipperary were reunited as a single local government authority.

The name Tipperary is taken from the Irish 'Tiobraid Arann', which means 'the well of Era', referring to the River Ara. The county covers 1,661 square miles (4,303 sq km). Its length is 74 miles from the corner of the Araglin river on the bondary south-west of Clogheen to where the Little Brosna river enters the Shannon. Its breadth is 45 miles from the western boundardy between Hospital and Emly and Carrickdoon Hill on the eastern boundary. Tipperary was part of the old Gaelic territory of Ormond and Thomond. The Normans invaded in 1172. In 1641, the Irish and Norman chieftains of Tipperary became part of the Catholic Confederacy and were defeated by Cromwell in 1649. The lands of those who rebelled were given to the Cromwell’s soldiers and English adventurers. Most of the soldiers sold their land to their officers and others creating large estates in the county.

The population was 346,896 in 1821 and grew to 435,553. It was greatly affected by the potato famine and its population decreased to 331,567 in 1851. The population continued to decrease until it was only 141,015 in 1926. In 2006, the population was 149,244. The predominant religion in the county is Roman Catholic. In 1871, 93.8% of the population was Roman Catholic followed by the Church of Ireland at 5.4% with 0.3% each being Presbyterian and Methodists. Overtime there has been a slight increase in the percentage of Roman Catholic to 96.9% in 1926. In 1926, the Church of Ireland decreased to 2.6% with 0.16% and 0.121% being Presbyterian and Methodist, respectively.

General County Research Information

 * Further information about County Tipperary is available at the GenUKI site.

Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information

 * List of County Tipperary Civil Parishes
 * List of County Tipperary Catholic Parishes

Land and Property

 * 1831 - 1856 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * 1885 County Map: Courtesy of London Ancestor

Probates

 * Abstracts of Wills. A collection of Will Abstracts, gathered from many sources, including Samuel Gordon of the South Suburbs of Clonmell, dated 10 Aug 1737, proved in the Prerogative Court 5 Jan. 1742.  Article found in The Irish Ancestor, vol.II, no2, 1970 pages 117-127, Family History Library Ref. 941.5 B2i

Websites

 * FHLFavorites.info
 * RootsChat Tipperary Resources and Help pages. (Free).
 * Tipperary Genealogy