A visit to Ballylooby, Co Tipperary in 2015

A slideshow of photos taken during my visit to Ballylooby in County Tipperary on Tuesday 1st September 2015. Ballylooby (Irish: Béal Átha Lúbaigh, meaning "mouth, or pass, of Looby's Ford") is a village in County Tipperary. It is on the R668 regional road between Cahir and Clogheen, approximately half way between both towns. Church of Our Lady and St. Kieran in Ballylooby was built in 1813 and was remodelled in 1929. It is one of two churches in Ballylooby and Tubrid Parish in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. The present Parish Hall, adjacent to the church and bridge was once the village school, or more correctly schools. Both the boys and girls classes, though operating under one roof, were administered separately. The Royal Irish Constabulary operated a barracks in the village for many years. It was sold to the local school-master, Michael Keating, by District Inspector Gilbert Potter in 1919 and so avoided damage by the Third Tipperary Brigade, during the Irish War of Independence., In December 1920, the barracks fleetingly became the focus of international attention when Daniel Francis Crowley and John Tangney, both ex-R.I.C Constables formerly stationed there, testified before the American Commission on Conditions in Ireland. They dramatically gave their reasons for quitting the force as the "brutality and lawlessness" of the contemporary administration, particularly the Black and Tans, as witnessed by them on their transfer from Ballylooby to Clogheen Barracks. Ballylooby-Castlegrace GAA Club was originally founded in 1934 as the Rehill Unknowns. The present club was officially formed in 1941. It fields both hurling and football teams. Thomas Ryan, a native of the area, represented County Tipperary at the ill-fated match against Dublin on Bloody Sunday (1920). Ryan was also a member of the IRA and fought in the Irish War of independence. Tommy O'Connor was also a member of the Tipperary team at this time. In the centre of the village, there is a memorial to Ned Tobin, who achieved national fame as a track and field athlete, particularly in throwing the 56 pound weight "without follow". It is listed as S290, one of several protected structures in Ballylooby.