Thurles Tourist Office: 'We want to promote what's local,' says Tour Guide

Located in the heart of Thurles town, the tourist office is a place where visitors and locals can get information on the county’s heritage sites.

Tipperary Heartland Tourism Group opened the tourist office last September to become a central point for all things Thurles.

Tour guide Rachael Cooke said the purpose of the office is to share what Thurles has to offer.

“We want to have a base in Thurles where people coming in from anywhere in the country can say what’s local? What’s here? Where can I go?

“We want to be that hub for them.

“We want to let them know where to go, point them in the right direction, so yeah, that’s the purpose of it,” said Rachael.

Tipperary Heartland

Tipperary Heartland Tourism Group is a voluntary organisaion that aims to promote heritage sites in

Thurles and the surrounding areas.

This includes but is not limited to Holycross Abbey, Farney castle and Cormackstown heritage centre.

The group started eight years ago with several goals including to open an information centre in Thurles.

Thurles Tourist Office

The tourist office was intially delayed by the pandemic with Tipperary Heartland due to open in early 2021.

It eventually opened in Autumn 2021 and now staff and volunteers want the people of Thurles to come and visit.

Jane Ryan from Tipperary Heartland said the tourist office is a great way to find affordable activities over the Easter holidays.

“It’s not just here for tourists.

“It’s here for local people who want to go out. You know we have the school holidays coming up now, and you want something to do with the kids.

“There are so many things we’ve got that people don’t know are on our doorstep,” said Jane.

According to Rachael, the office has many features to help visitors, and it looks great too.

“I love how it looks. I think it’s so cool to have a building like this in Thurles.

“Getting to work in an office like this is just really lovely.

“ I love our pictures on the wall. I love our new TV screen where we show footage because when people come in, we can say you can go here and there.

“I think it’s a gorgeous building,” said Rachael.

According to Rachael the building itself has been in Thurles for a very long time .

It was previously a bank and the GAA museum.

“It's one of those building that were here on the main street for a very long time and its really nice to be able to work in a building that has that history,” said Rachael.

With a little help from the District

The Thurles Tourist office development was funded by the towns and villages fund administered by Tipperary County Council.

It is run by a combination of staff and volunteers. According to Rachael, the volunteers are always willing to tell visitors about local history.

“The volunteers that come in are always really interested in local history, and you know, sharing what’s around the place.

“So, whenever anyone comes in, there’s always going to be people with that interest and are eager to share,” said Rachael.

As well as information, the office can provide tours of the Lár na Páirce museum.

Lár na Páirce Museum

The building is also home to the Lár na Páirce Museum.

Lár na Páirce Museum, owned by the GAA, it was set up by a group of volunteers to display the Sam Melbourne collection and promote GAA history. It now boasts an impressive collection of medals, hurleys, jerseys and awards.

According to Discover Ireland, the museum houses the oldest hurling trophy- the Silvermines Cup and is the first interactive museum for Gaelic sports.

Opening the tourist office saved the GAA museum as it was to close down.

Tipperary Heartland now runs the museum in addition to the tourist office.
Promoting Thurles

Recently Tipperary Heartland Tourism Group produced a booklet with details of heritage sites and activities in the Thurles area.

Areas covered are Holycross, Upperchurch, Templemore, Loughmore and Littleton.
You can pick up a copy of the Thurles booklet at the tourist office.

“Thurles is a really good hub location.It’s really close to everything. It’s easy to get to.

“You can go out the road, and there’s always going to be something you can see,” said Rachael.

The Thurles Tourist Office is open from 10am on Tuesday to Saturday.

“We want to promote what’s local and help people find their way around the county, said Rachael.

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