Tullahought
| Tullahought Irish: Tulchacht | |
| County Kilkenny | |
|---|---|
 St. Nicholas' Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | S433299 |
| Location: | 52°25’10"N, 7°21’51"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Callan |
| Dáil constituency: |
Carlow–Kilkenny |
Tullahought is a small village in the south of County Kilkenny, and also a townland in the area, eight miles north of Carrick on Suir and 25 miles south of Kilkenny City. Close by are the Ormonde Slate Quarries which are situated at the foot of the Booly Hills, on which Tullahought stands.
About the village
- St Nicholas' Roman Catholic Church, built in 1885
- Community Centre, in the old school
- Stone Age burial ground
Pre-historic landmarks of the village include a Stone Age burial ground which is situated on the peak of the Booley hills above the village. The site of the burial ground is reminiscent of a stone circle of which only the weathered remains are now visible. The ground is close to a "Newgrange" like structure called the "Cashal", which like Newgrange is noted for light passing through chambers only during the solstice.
Ormonde Slate Quarries
Located to the south of the village is the Ormonde Slate Quarries. Quarrying in the slate quarries of Tullahought were predominant during the 19th century, with Samuel Lewis's 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland recording that the "extensive quarry of slate of superior quality" employed "about 150 persons".[1] A large community built up around the area which covers land in both Kilkenny and Tipperary. Tullahought shares its association with the quarries with the south Tipperary village of Ahenny, which claims the larger of the 3 lakes created by the quarrying of slate in the area. In the mid-1990s, a yearly festival known as the "Slate Quarries Festival" began with a Summer Mass at the better known and easier accessed of the lakes. The first festival was marked with the creation of artworks made entirely out of slate. Although the festival was reprised over the coming years with numerous sculptures being developed each year, the festival no longer takes place in the same format.
The most notable building attributed to have the quarries' slate is the Palace of Westminster in Middlesex.
Outside links
References
- ↑ Samuel Lewis (1837). "Tullahought". Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/T/Tullahought-Kells-Kilkenny.php.
- Tulchacht / Tullahought: Placenames Database of Ireland