This town owes its development to the Norman Butlers. Remains of two of their fortresses survive - the fifteenth century tower house guarding the bridge and, at the other end of the square, the one time home of Ldy Thurles, mother of James Butler, first Duke of Ormond. East of the river Suir ,which divides the town, is decidedly ecclesiastical - two churches, two convents, two seminaries and a presbytery are present. The town's other flavour is hurling. The square has Hayes' hotel, where the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1884, and a statue of the Association's first patron, Archbishop Thomas William Croke.
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