A Cycle Race with a Dramatic Twist 🚴‍♂️

In 1906, Templemore Cycle Club held its races on the streets of the town. Mr. Morris, a local chemist, offered a gold watch to the best rider of an eight-mile race. Seven competitors lined up for the challenge, but disaster struck at the corner near the Sacred Heart Church, known at the time as the “new Chapel.”

📜 Tipperary Star – August 1906:
“When turning the corner at the new Chapel, five of the cyclists came to grief, some sustaining nasty cuts and bruises. This made the win very easy for Mr. O’Brien of Castleiney, who won by over forty yards. Mr. Edward Kirwan of Nenagh took second place, while Con Armitage of Templemore finished third. About three yards separated the two. Other races were planned, but due to the accident, they were canceled.”

The Chemist & Its Historic Location

The entrance to Morris Chemist, mentioned in the article, was located on Patrick Street, where O’Doherty’s Showrooms now stand. Historical records from Griffith’s Valuation House Book (1846) indicate that the building was already 60 years old at the time, meaning it dates back to approximately 1786.

Interestingly, the Sacred Heart Church, which opened in 1883, was still referred to as the “new Chapel” in 1906 – despite being in use for 23 years at that point!

This story is a perfect example of how photographs and historical snippets bring the past to life. Every old picture tells a thousand stories, and we look forward to uncovering more Templemore memories in the future!

📷 Do you recognize any other historic spots in this image? Share your memories at Tuatha Corca Teine!

Award-Winning Project: The Mall, Templemore

SOLA expertly renovated five homes at The Mall in Templemore, originally built in 1966 and rated BER ‘G’. Through advanced energy efficiency methods, renewable technology, and sustainable materials, these homes achieved an impressive BER ‘A’ rating.

Finalists in the Category:

SOLA was among strong finalists, showcasing the competitive and high standards in the industry:

• Electric Ireland Superhomes
• SSE Energy Services
• Studio Negri

A Testament to Local Talent

This achievement highlights the potential and skill of a dedicated local employer. SOLA’s success clearly demonstrates what can be accomplished with the right skills, teamwork, and commitment.

Established in 2008 as a supplier and installer of renewable systems, SOLA has been delivering exceptional energy retrofit solutions since 2015. To date, they’ve completed upgrades on over 200 homes, positively impacting energy efficiency across Ireland.

We could not be prouder or happier for SOLA and their entire team. This award is richly deserved recognition for years of hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.

Congratulations, SOLA – more power to you! 🌱✨

Outgoing president Aoife Grey held the position during the challenging covid years. Despite the difficulty of this time some successful projects saw the light of day: the outdoor cinema, the children’s art project, and the Ukrainian night of welcome to name but a few.
A first for the club is the election of a Vice-President. Eddie Moran was welcomed into this role. The club are grateful to both Barbara and Eddie for for their commitment and dedication to the club. We wish them the very best of luck in their roles.

Present at the handing over of the Chain of Office : David Cambie, Kathleen Collier, Aoife Grey, Eddie Moran, Barbara McNamara, Declan Glynn, Michael Maher, Tom Kenny

In true Irish form we look to integrate and welcome this nation, so similar to our own, with open arms. It was therefore a special day indeed on August 6th when a collaborative project of Irish and Ukrainian work saw the official opening of the Thurles Ukrainian Community Centre.

The idea behind it is to emulate the centres that assisted so many Irish emigrants to London, Sydney, New York and other cities throughout the world. This centre nestled between the Premier Hall and the Courthouse on Rossa Street in Thurles will provide a base and a friendly place to meet up, make contacts, share information, gain employment and so much more.

John Gleeson and his brother Billy Gleeson were instrumental in the establishment of this Centre and were a big part of the launch and the excellent atmosphere that reined on the day. Both the Rotary Club of Thurles and the Thurles Community Social Services joined forces to ensure that this previously unoccupied building would find a productive function once more. Huge generosity was also shown by several businesses in the area in the setting up of the premises.

The Littleton, Templemore and Thurles based Ukrainains cooked a fine array of lunch time food for the launch. A day of song and music, face painting and story-telling ensued.
Long may the centre thrive and become a safe and happy place for Ukrainian children to play and their grown ups to relax in. Thanks to all involved for such a proactive approach to a difficult situation.

Comhaltas groups from Killea, Loughmore and Clonmore brought back the gold, silver and bronze in great style and we congratulate each and every one of them. All the long practice hours and dedication to your music and dance has paid off. Sincere congratulations to the parents and teachers too of course. We are very proud of our fine young musicians. Here they are listed below.

• Muireann Meade (12-15 Uilleann Pipes); 1st place & All Ireland Champion. Here she is below with her teacher, Mr Cilian Roache.

• Evan Corpez, Sean Giles, Moya Grey, Rachel Delahunty (U-12 Mixed 4-hand Céilí Dancing); 1st place & All Ireland Champions.

• Carol Noonan, JR Corpez, Orlaith Bergin, VJ Corpez (12-15 Mixed 4-hand Céilí Dancing); 2nd place.

• Sarah Gleeson (u12 Sean Nós Dancing); 3rd place.
• Naoise Barrett (Senior Harp); 3rd place

Seanie, known for his quiet ways, happy nod, kind smile and absolute reliability is referred to by the school as a “diligent employee who worked very hard .. always first to arrive and last to leave.” No better accolade could be given.

Our Lady’s Templemore saw Seanie work under no fewer than 4 different principals! Br. Scanlon, Sr Helen Kennedy, Jim O’ Shea and most recently, Patricia Higgins.

We join with the town and all pupils and staff of Our Ladies, past and present, to wish Seanie a very happy retirement, so well-earned. We look forward to seeing him around town enjoying some down-time!

Major projects undertaken by the organisation include the improvements carried out on the exterior of the Town Hall, to reveal beautiful stonework; landscaping and planting of containers in the Square; involvement in the painting of premises to counteract dereliction; landscaping on the approach roads and maintenance of the site of the old church, An Teampall Mór, in the Park. Over the years our marks in the annual competition have continued to improve and we are always commended for our work by the judges. In 2010 we undertook the compilation of a pictorial history of Templemore and with assistance from many proud citizens of Templemore we published ‘Templemore Through the Lens of Time’. Members have been involved with the provision of a Heritage Trail in the town in 2014, which highlights the wonderful and diverse range of natural and historic sites that is our heritage.

Every spring we review our work and plan for the year ahead. The popularity of the woodlands for walking and jogging is growing. From March until September the members work on Monday evenings. We pick litter, maintain landscaped areas, plant and care for summer bedding, remove ivy from walls etc. Volunteers are always welcome and will find great satisfaction in lending a hand to make Templemore even more beautiful. Ní neart go cur le chéile. We are very happy to welcome the many Ukrainians hands who have come to help us in recent times.

Volunteers are always required. If you’ve a few spare hours we’d love to hear from you to help with various projects around town so do get in touch with us either on the Templemore website or fb / instagram pages.
Many Thanks, Templemore Tidy Towns.

With the current hikes in fossil fuel prices more and more of us are talking about finding sustainable energy choices for our homes and businesses. Many challenges to this action exist .. Who does what and why? What benefit will it have for me? How much will it cost? Is it possible that some people will invest more and benefit less? Perhaps, but that does not have to stop us in our endeavours. We want to believe that our small society of Templemore can indeed be “great” as indicated in the proverb above; that altruism will start here with us.

The good news is that as the climate skeptics grow fewer and those taking action increase in number we are now truly understanding the sense and the science behind sustainability movements.
We know that even the smallest actions are steps in the right direction. The important thing is to be in movement and to not fall asleep at the wheel.

With this in mind, Templemore Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) undertook some first steps in the right direction back in mid 2019 with the application for a grant to carry out an energy audit on our town. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) granted this aid as well as a mentor to help us get started on our sustainable journey.

How much energy are we using in Templemore?
Where are we using this energy?
How much is it costing us?
How can we reduce this energy usage?
How can we reduce the cost?
How can we replace current energy solutions with more sustainable versions?
Is it possible for us to become a zero carbon town?
Is it possible to generate employment and stimulate the economy while making good environmental choices?

These are some of the questions that the energy audit looks to answer for our town. The Tipperary Energy Agency was chosen to work with the Templemore SEC to write and publish an Energy Master Plan. This EMP will be launched September 24th at 11a.m. in the Templemore Arms. All are welcome to attend.

The Templemore SEC currently consists of five members from the town. To borrow words from Ban Ki Moon, former Secretary-General with the United Nations we believe that :

“Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.”

Here is the SEC group during one of many lockdown meetings on zoom; feeling the energy!
From top left to bottom :
Kevin Ludlow, Diarmuid Jones, Paul Walsh, Declan Glynn, Patricia Moloughney.
Eoghain O Horgan and Niall Pickering are from Tipperary Energy Agency.