The 'Golden Vale' extends from east Limerick and across south Tipperary and north Cork. Its rich grasslands are the focus for the most extensive dairy farming activity in Ireland. Located here are some of the largest dairy-processing complexes in Ireland: at Mallow, Co. Cork; Charleville, Co. Limerick; and Mitchelstown, Co. Tipperary.

The Golden Vale is the hub of a more extensive Munster, or Southern, dairying region which extends from west Clare and north Kerry through Limerick, north Cork and South Tipperary, into counties Kilkenny and Waterford.