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Templemore An Teampall Mór
Location
Coordinates: 52°48′N 7°48′W / 52.8°N 7.8°W / 52.8; -7.8Coordinates: 52°48′N 7°48′W / 52.8°N 7.8°W / 52.8; -7.8
Irish grid reference S104720
Statistics
Province:	Munster
County:	County Tipperary
Population (2006)	2,255
Website: www.templemore.ie

Templemore (An Teampall Mór, meaning The Big Church, in Irish) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Since February 1964, the former Richmond Barracks in the town has been the site of the Garda Síochána College, the centre for training Ireland's police force.^[1] In addition the town has a number of small industries and in the past was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region.

Templemore Town Hall, Main Street, Templemore

The town is situated in the administrative county of North Tipperary and is on the N62 National route which joins Athlone with Thurles and the N8. The market square with its Town Hall in the centre of the town is reputed locally to be the widest in either Ireland or Britain. It backs on to an extensive wooded Town Park and lake. The town is of Georgian style architecture with three storey houses on the main street built by Sir John Carden II, a 19th century landlord.

History

Following the burning of the Blackcastle, Carden built a new estate. He built a mansion known as the Priory on the edge of the town. The architecture of the Priory was in the style of the Elizabethan era. The Priory was surrounded by a demesne which had a formal garden with paved paths around an artificial lake. The Cardens also kept the ruins of the old church and graveyard, but merely as conversational pieces, which was typical of that time. At the entrance on the Borrisoleigh Road is the gate keeper's lodge. After 1860, the Priory was re-named the Abbey.^[2]

In August 1920, buildings in Templemore were burned down by Crown Forces or Black and Tans in reprisal for the killing of District Inspector Wilson of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The reprisals were brought to a sudden end by the occurrence of the so-called Templemore miracles: a number of holy statues in the locality purportedly began to bleed spontaneously. This caused Templemore to become a pilgrim town for a short time. Dan Breen - a famous Tipperary IRA freedom fighter, and later a Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary - said he always knew these 'miracles' to have been a nonsense but they did attract many sincere pilgrims at the time. Another IRA ambush nearby the following month caused the pilgrims to make a hasty exit and normal (war-time) conditions prevailed in Templemore once more.^[3]

At the nearby village of Loughmore is the historic Loughmoe Castle. The local area is quite scenic and there are expansive views from the Devil's Bit mountain close by.

Transport

Templemore railway station opened on 3 July 1848.^[4] Templemore is on the Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Limerick railway lines operated by Iarnród Éireann.

Education

The local secondary school is Our Lady's Secondary School, a co-educational school for girls and boys. It was formed when the Sisters of Mercy Convent (a day and boarding school) merged with the Christian Brothers School. In addition, there is St Sheelan's College, which has a more vocational focus. In 2003, it ceased second level teaching and is now a FETAC and HETAC college of further education offering over 30 different courses.

Sport

Gaelic games

The local Gaelic Athletic Association club, J.K. Brackens GAA, formed in 1991 when clubs from Clonmore, Killea and Templemore merged. It is named after Joseph Kevin Bracken, one of the founders of the GAA,^[5] who came from Templemore. His son, Brendan Bracken, who was a member of Winston Churchill's government in the United Kingdom during World War II, was born in Templemore.^[6] The club

Soccer

The local soccer/association football club is Blackcastle United FC. The club is named after the Black Castle which is located in Templemore Town Park.

Golf

There is a golf course located at close to the Garda Síochána College just off the Thurles road, which is a nine hole course. Lakeside Pitch-and-Putt club is located beside the lake in the Town Park. It is affiliated to the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland.

Angling

Coarse fishing is available in the lake in the town park.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Templemore is twinned with the village of Prémilhat in France and Potenza Picena in Italy.^[7]

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• List of Market Houses in Ireland

References

1. ^ History of Garda College on Garda website http://www.garda.ie/col/index.html
2. ^ History page on official Templemore website maintained by Templemore Town Council http://www.templemore.ie/History.htm
3. ^ `A Brief History of the Garda Síochána College' by Sergeant John Reynolds in 'Communique: An Garda Síochána Management Journal', December 2007 http://www.garda.ie/pub/communiquedecember07.pdf
4. ^ "Templemore station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-07.  
5. ^ Details of GAA first meeting on GAA.ie http://www.gaa.ie/page/the_birth_of_cumann_luthcleas_gael.html
6. ^ WinstonChurchill.org http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=128
7. ^ Article about twinned towns on Templemore site http://www.templemore.ie/twinning.htm