Looking back over June 2022 in Tipperary - Village in state of shock as two bodies found

June 2, 2022

The country was gripped in late May/early June by the GAA catfish story which featured on The 2 Johnnies podcast.
As well as entertaining the nation on RTÉ 2FM, Roscrea’s Johnny “Smacks” McMahon and Cahir’s Johnny B O’Brien host The 2 Johnnies podcast on Spotify, and the show has grabbed headlines as Part 1 and Part 2 of the story were released.
Johnny B revealed he was one of at least 40 well-known personalities, including GAA players, duped by a catfish running more than 20 different social media accounts. Catfishing is the act of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona.
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There was great sadness in south Tipperary when news filtered through of the sudden death of Rosegreen man Mattie Maher in London on Saturday, April 23.

Although a month had passed since the awful news of his passing while refereeing a GAA match on that Saturday afternoon in Watford, the aftermath was still quite unbelievable among the many people who had known him on the local GAA scene since Mattie made London his home in the late 80s.
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We extended heartiest congratulations that week to Nellie Purcell, Congress Terrace, Fethard, who celebrated her 104th birthday on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
We reported that Nellie still had a passion for flowers and attributed her long life to loving everything she did all through always.
Even at this ripe old age of 104, Nellie’s mind is always active and her memory flawless and she gave a quick run through of just some of the things she accomplished in her life in the report.

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June 9, 2022

Carrick-on-Suir’s Edmund Rice Secondary School was on the brink of a new era of expansion with a design team in the process of being appointed for a €4m extension, wrote Aileen Hahesy on the front page on June 9.
The 1,326sqm extension will be the most significant capital investment in improving classroom facilities at the former Christian Brothers School since the 1980s. It will herald a positive new phase for the school, popularly known as the Monastery, which was established by CBS founder Edmund Ignatius Rice in 1805.

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“In Tipperary, we are proud of those who are successful and who represent our county with dignity and distinction - we are honoured to have them.”
So said the President of the Tipperary Association in Dublin, Tom Sherlock as he presented the annual awards in June in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel in Dublin which turned out to be a Premier evening.
Jockey Rachael Blackmore received the Tipperary Person of the Year Award.
Len Gaynor received the award jointly with Peg Rossiter of Clonmel, a renowned columnist with The Nationalist newspaper.
99-year-old Peg Rossiter was not present on the night but she recorded a video for the event and dedicated her Hall of Fame Award to all those who worked in so many capacities with her in Clonmel and the surrounding areas. Clonmel, she said, is in her heart and she invited all those friends and acquaintances who had journeyed with her through the years, to now walk with her into the Hall of Fame.
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The development of a new high quality three-bay Fire Station in Cashel on the Wallers Lot site was about to get underway following confirmation by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that funding of over €3.1m had been approved for the project.
Final discussions with the preferred tenderer were underway to agree a start date for the project and it is expected in early June that the development will be complete in approximately 12 months.
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June 16, 2022

We were making the news ourselves in our issue of June 16 when we carried an eight-page special supplement to coincide with our last week in Queen Street after 48 years, the premises being sold for the development of a new Lidl Supermarket.

Jeddy Walsh wrote: “This week marks another milestone in the long and distinguished 132-year history of The Nationalist newspaper. The edition you are now reading will be the last of approximately 2,500 weekly editions compiled on Queen Street, Clonmel over the last half century or so…..”

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The owners of 36 properties in Carrick-on-Suir town availed of €56,713 in grant aid to spruce up their shopfronts and building facades under the Government’s Streetscape Enhancement Scheme before it finished up at the end of April, reported Aileen Hahesy.
The aesthetic improvements to Carrick-on-Suir town centre were praised by local councillors at Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District’s at the monthly meeting.

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Friday morning, June 10, saw lots of excitement in Cahir as schoolboys and schoolgirls, their teachers as well as family, friends and townsfolk gathered at the parish rooms to parade to the new Bunscoil Na Cathrach and enter together for the first time.

The brand new state-of-the-art building truly was a wonder to see. Set over two floors with so much space and light and super warm as well. Everyone was delighted to enter the stunning new build ing.
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Looking back over April 2022 in Tipperary - We lost some wonderful people

June 23, 2022

A rural south Tipperary community was reeling in shock following the discovery of the bodies of an elderly couple at their bungalow near Cloneen on Monday, June 21, wrote Aileen Hahesy.
Local councillor Mark Fitzgerald spoke of his community’s deep “shock and disbelief” at the discovery of the deceased man and woman.
Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan carried out a post-mortem on the bodies of the English couple, believed to be aged in their 70s, at Waterford University.

At the time it was believed the bodies lay undiscovered for a considerable period of time.
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In June Cllr David Dunne became the first Sinn Féin chairperson of one of county Tipperary’s municipal districts when he was elected to lead Carrick-on-Suir MD’s councillors for the next year at Carrick-on-Suir Town Hall.
He was also the first Carrick-on-Suir councillor to chair Carrick MD since its creation following the amalgamation of South and North Tipperary County Councils in 2014.

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The excitement was palpable on Friday evening, June 17 at the Talbot Hotel Clonmel on the momentous occasion of the hotel’s official launch party as part of one of Ireland’s favourite hotel groups the Talbot Connection.
A full day of activities for its celebrations started with a live radio outdoor broadcast, a party for all its leisure members followed by a red-carpet welcome for an evening soiree of refreshments and live entertainment.
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June 30, 2022

St Joseph’s primary school in Tipperary Town was not only welcoming four new Ukrainian pupils in June, but also had a new member of staff to support them, wrote Aislinn Kelly who went along to meet Olha and hear about how she was settling into her new community.
Ukrainian teacher Olha Mahdyk was providing assistance to the new students as they continued their education in Ireland. Olha, herself, had fled Ukraine a week after the conflict began. A native of Irpin, one of the first areas bombarded when the invasion began in February, she felt she had no choice but to leave.
She decided to come to Ireland following the insistence of a family member who was based in Tipperary.

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In late June we reported on the magnificent achievement of Aoibhín Coady who had just completed the challenge of climbing Slievenamon ten times in a day to raise funds for PAWs Animal Rescue in Mullinahone.
The overall event consisted of 80,000 steps, with the climb involving climbing 50 kilometres over an 18-hour period.


PAWs Animal Rescue was established in 1997 and is dedicated to rescuing homeless and abandoned animals.

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“And so another business closes its doors and with it goes a lifetime of memories.”
These were words of one punter in the Snooty Pig when Martin Quinn called to meet with the owner Mary Dalton, who had announced that the pub would close its doors for the final time in June.
“What you are seeing here tonight is a rare occurrence. We are only open on weekend nights and that position is not viable for us or for any business. Covid changed everything and people got out of the habit of going to their local and they didn’t come back at the same level or anything like it after restrictions lifted” said Mary.
‘The Snooty Pig’ was one of the oldest pubs in Tipperary Town. The pub was named by current owner Mary Dalton as in bygone years there had been a piggery at the rear of the premises. The pub was renowned for its live entertainment along with dart and pool competitions and the revival of skittles.