Cross Tipperary, formally the County of the Cross of Tipperary, was an Irish county comprising those lands within County Tipperary which were excluded from the "County of the Liberty of Tipperary", the county palatine under the jurisdiction of the Earl of Ormond. Cross Tipperary existed from the granting of the liberty in 1328 until 1637, and was explicitly abolished along with the palatine jurisdiction in 1715.
After the Norman invasion of Ireland, only the most securely controlled areas on the east and south coast were shired into "royal counties", with sheriffs answerable to the chief governor based in Dublin. Areas impractical of full control were granted to magnates as "liberties" or "palatine counties", with seneschals appointed by the local overlord. The "crosslands" owned by the church (whether the diocese or a religious order) were exempted from each such grant and remained under royal jurisdiction. Tipperary was a royal county in the 13th century, but the English Lordship of Ireland's control loosened after Edward Bruce's campaign of 1315–18. Control of Tipperary was tenuous and so the liberty was granted to James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond in 1328. The excluded crosslands became a separate county.[1] They included the town of Cashel, seat of the Archbishop of Cashel, and scattered other crosslands.
Each of the other liberties was either forfeited or merged in the Crown, such that its territory was combined with the corresponding County of the Cross and established as a single royal county. Thus, eventually, only Cross Tipperary remained as an anomaly.
In 1606, Dough Arra was the unshired túath of the O'Brien-Arra sept, bounded by counties Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, and Cross Tipperary. King James I authorised the annexation of Dough Arra to Cross Tipperary because the latter, "albeit it be one of the most ancient Counties in the Kingdom, was of a very small Extent & Circuit, so as now it did scarce deserve the Name of a County, by reason of sundry Incroachments made thereupon".[6] After a commission to establish the boundaries of Dough Arra, Sir Nicholas Walsh, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, effected its annexation at the Cross Tipperary assizes in Cashel in 1606.[4][7] The new barony of Dough Arra was later merged with part of Uaithne (Owney) to form the modern barony of Owney and Arra.
"Dracoasland" (probably Acarandraky, aka Drake's Acre, parish of Moorestownkirk in Middle Third[2])
Hugh Kearney suggests that Cross Tipperary's lack of representation in the 1639 parliament was a consequence of Thomas Wentworth's opposition to Catholic MPs.[13]
the Counties of Tipperary & Crosse Tipperary were really & actually united, annexed, appropriated incorporated, & consolidated together, to be one entire County, & to be for ever nominated, called & known by the Name of the County of Tipperary only, & to have but one High Sheriff to be appointed & chosen as of other Counties in Ireland, with Coroners, Justices of the Peace & Gaol Delivery & other officers & Ministers whatsoever according as in other Counties had been or was used & accustomed.
In 1662, after the Restoration, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde was again granted palatine jurisdiction, this time including all the lands formerly in Cross Tipperary as well as those of the earlier grant.[4] The letters patent making the grant stated that upon the 1621 seizure "the barony of Owny and Arra and divers other towns, villages, and townlands, scattered through the various baronies of the County Tipperary, and called the County of the Cross of Tipperary, were annexed to the County of Tipperary, and made part and parcel of the said County".[4] This was despite the fact that Cross Tipperary returned MPs to the 1634 parliament.[8]
And it is hereby enacted and declared, That whatsoever has been denominated or called Tipperary, or Cross Tipperary, shall henceforth be and remain one county for ever, under the name of the county of Tipperary.
References
Empey, C. A. (1970). "The County of the Cross of Tipperary"(PDF). The Butler lordship in Ireland (PhD). Dublin, Ireland: Trinity College Dublin Department of History. pp. 394–425. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
Empey, C. A. (1985). "The Norman period, 1185–1500". In Nolan, William; McGrath, Thomas G. (eds.). Tipperary: History and Society : Interdisciplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County. Dublin: Geography Publications. pp. 71–92. ISBN9780906602034.
"Part II; Parliaments of Ireland, 1559–1695; Tipperary". Return of the name of every member of the lower house of parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date of return, from 1213 to 1874. Command papers. Vol. C.69-I. HMSO. 1878. p. 632. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
^Hamilton, Hans C. (1877). "Vol. CXXIV No. 13". Calendar of the State Papers Relating to Ireland, of the Reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elisabeth: Preserved in the Public Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office. 1586–1588, July. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer. p. 53. Cross of Tipperary: Richard Archbold, Edmund Prendergast
^ abcIreland (1794). "2 George I c.8". Statutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland. Vol. III: 1715–1733. Printed by George Grierson, printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. pp. 5–11. Retrieved 14 August 2011.