The Place

General Geography

Ireland from Space

I couldn't resist posting this photo of Ireland, as seen frome the space shuttle a few years ago.  One of the things that attracts me to this image is how incongruous it seemsto be talking about family roots that lie 200 years in the past, from the vantage point of space.  It is a bit of reality check, too: families are filled with the drama of life and death, joy and sorrow, conflict and communion, and yet when viewed from this height it really looks like the most important fact is the land that we share in common. You can't see any boundaries or divisions from here: neither class nor politics nor blood are in sight.  Refreshing, really.

Getting Oriented

For first time visitors to the Cappawhite area, perhaps a bit of orientation is in order.  Cappawhite is in County Tipperary in the souther part of Ireland.  It is in the middle of a countryside that consists of rolling green farmlands, marked off by belts of trees and hedge-lined lanes, and small mountains.  If you look at the map at the right, follow a line from the west coast of Ireland through the city of Limerick (you are basically following the River Shannon inland) as you pass below Newport you will be slightly north and west of Cappawhite; when you reach the line formed by Thurles and Cashel, you have gone too far east.

Co. Tipperary

This modern map shows Co. Tipperary in the center, surrounded by its neighboring counties.  The center of our story, Cappawhite, can be seen on the center of the line from Cashel to Newport.  Cashel is famous in Irish history as the seat of the kings of Munster, and is said to be the place where St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity to King Angus, using the familiar shamrock as a metaphor for the divine three parts constituting a single whole.  The magnificent ruins of a twelfth century cathedral complex and earlier round tower atop the Rock of Cashel are a major tourist attraction.  Newport, at the other end of this line, was the home for one of the largest concentrations of Buckley families in Tipperary and figures importantly in our family history as the likely origins of the Buckleys of Cappawhite.

The other major center of Buckleys in Tipperary was in the important city of Cahir on the River Suir.  There still stands in Cahir an impressive stone castle, and I seem to recall that the name Cahir itself comes from an old Irish word meaning stone fort.  This root word, Caher, forms the root for Cahernahallia, the name of the river that flows through the Buckley townlands of Cahernahallia, Knockanavar, Glengar, and Leugh near Cappawhite.

Although most Buckleys lived out on farms for most of the 19th century, they have moved into the towns and villages of Tipperary since then.  In my last visit to Ireland in August 2005, I had a very enjoyable visit with Michael Buckley -- a butcher in Tipperary town.  Mike has family buried in the Doon cemetery and believes he is related to the same Carew family in Cappawhite as me.  You'll see a photo of Mike's shop on my Tipperary in Photos page.

The Cappawhite Neighborhood

Having started in space, we have now worked our way down to the Cappawhite neighborhood.  The main road from Cashel (to the southeast) enters from the lower right and passes through Cappawhite on its way to Doon, to the northwest.  Above the road is the foot of the local mountains. To the west of Cappawhite is Toem, for which the civil parish encompassing this area is named.  Important local roads make an "x" at Toem, including a road to Doon, and a southward bending road that leads down to Tipperary town. 

Geography continued . . .

This background discussion on geography will conclude with a discussion of the various political and ecclesiastical divisions pertinent to the this part of Tipperary -- on the next page.  Click on the link below to continue on to "Administrative Geography."