Cahir Attractions

5mi/8km south of Cahir is Ardfinnan, a picturesquely situated village with a 15-arch bridge over the Suir. On the banks of the river are two towers belonging to a castle which was believed to be impregnable until Cromwell's troops bombarded it with artillery and took it by storm.

Southwest of Cahir, on a minor road which branches off the N8 on the left 5mi/8km from the town, is Burncourt Castle (National Monument), the empty shell of a many-gabled mansion built in 1641-45 and burned down by Cromwell only five years later, in 1650.

Northwest of Cahir, between the Galtee Mountains and a wooded ridge of hills running parallel to them on the north, extends the wide Glen of Aherlow, once an important pass between the plains of Tipperary county and the low-lying territory of Limerick county which was the scene of many battles and later became a refuge for dispossessed and outlawed Irishmen. This attractive and fertile glen is good walking country.

The R665 runs southwest from Ardfinnan, passing Castlegrace, a fine ruined castle (13th C?) just beyond Clogheen, from which the R668 (the "Vee") winds its way south, with many hairpin bends, through the Knockmealdown Mountains. There are far-ranging views from the highest hill, Knockmealdown (2,658ft/810m).

4mi/6km north of Cahir stands an interesting group of medieval structures (National Monuments) - the Motte of Knockgraffon, a 12th C. Anglo-Norman stronghold built to protect a ford on the Suir; the ruins of a 13th C. church and tower; and the remains of a 16th C. castle. Near by is a churchyard with another ruined church.