Name

The usual assumption is that ‘Tipperary’ is an English version of the Gaelic name Tiobraid Árann,  meaning the Well of Ara.  The ‘Ara’ reference is probably to one of the Gaelic tribes settled in the region. Nothing is known about the circumstances by which this name was created.  The name was first applied to Tipperary town, like most inland Irish towns, founded by the Normans, in this case at the very end of the 12^th century.  It may be that there was a sacred well, now covered over  but by tradition  near the town’s Main Street.  Reflecting the town’s administrative importance when the county was created, Tipperary became the name of the county, which was created in 1254 with the appointment of a sheriff, a royal official to administer the region.