Tipperary, an inland county of the Irish province of Munster, touching Galway on the north and King's County, Queen's County, and Kilkenny on the east. Area, 1659 sq. m., or 1,061,731 acres, of which 843,837 are arable. The county of Tipperary for the most part lies in the basin of the river Suir (total length 85 miles); the Shannon touches the north-west border. The surface is generally level, but is diversified by several mountain ridges or groups. These mountains are the Galtees, rising to 3008 feet, Knockmeledown (2609 feet high), and Slievenaman on the south; Keeper Mountain on the west; and the Slievardagh Hills on the east. There is one very curious isolated height called the Devil's Bit, to which many popular legends attach. The soil of the plain is a rich calcareous loam, singularly fertile and productive, especially the district called the Golden Vale, in which stands the town of Tipperary. In geological formation the plain belongs to the great central carboniferous limestone district. Anthracite coal is worked; copper, lead, and zinc occur in smaller quantities; and slates and pipeclay are available. The principal occupation is agriculture, especially dairy-farming. The county, which since 1885 sends four members to parliament, is divided into two ridings, North and South, each of which is subdivided into six baronies. Pop. (1841) 435,553; (1871) 216,713; (1881) 199,612; (1891) 172,882, of whom 162,025 are Roman Catholics.
Anciently Tipperary formed part of the two distinct principalities of Ormond, or North Munster, and Desmond, or South Munster; after the English invasion Tipperary was formed into a county by King John in 1210; but the authority of the conquerors was long little more than nominal. Eventually it came to be divided between the Anglo-Norman families of Butler, which held Ormond, and Geraldine, to whom a portion of Desmond fell. The antiquities are numerous, as well Celtic as Anglo-Norman. In the latter the city of Cashel (q.v.) is specially rich; and Holy Cross is a noble monastic ruin, whilst the castle of Calir is a fine specimen of baronial architecture. There is a series of caves near the border of the county of Cork.