Things to do in Thurles
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Thurles
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall: long evenings, championship hurling, and the hills and wetlands at their best.
Peak hurling season, with the Munster Final in early June and the fullest hotels and highest prices of the year.
National Hunt racing season at Thurles, from the October opener to the March Pierce Molony fixture.
County hurling final at Semple and the Tipperary Dance Festival, the strongest autumn month to visit.
The quietest and wettest month, with low prices but few events: fine for a pubs and Source weekend only.
Spring value window around Easter, with fuller heritage hours, league match days and greening hills.
What's on
- Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase a Sunday in January
The Grade 2 flagship race of the Thurles winter season, drawing top Cheltenham prospects.
- Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle a Thursday in February
A Grade 2 novice hurdle and one of the Thurles season's highest quality cards.
- Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase a Saturday in March
A Grade 3 chase honouring the course's long serving manager, closing the Thurles jumping season.
- Munster Senior Hurling Championship at FBD Semple Stadium May to early June, final in early June when the pairing lands in Thurles
Championship hurling at its home ground: book beds and dinners far ahead for these weekends.
- Tipperary Dance Festival October
Contemporary dance performances and sessions in Thurles and Holycross venues.
- Tipperary County Senior Hurling Final a Sunday in October
The county final at Semple Stadium, a fierce local occasion visitors can usually still get tickets for.
- Thurles Christmas Race Meeting the Sunday before Christmas
A festive seven race card with a Listed mares novice hurdle, and one of the course's most popular days.
Best things to do in Thurles
FBD Semple Stadium
Ireland's second largest GAA stadium, where a Munster championship day fills the town and the hurling is world class.
Lár na Páirce Museum
The GAA museum in the town where the association was founded, dense with hurleys, jerseys, medals and trophies.
Hayes Hotel
The Liberty Square hotel where the GAA was founded in 1884, marked by a plaque and still the town's meeting place.
Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles
A Pisa modelled Romanesque cathedral holding a tabernacle by a pupil of Michelangelo, free and quietly beautiful.
Holycross Abbey
A restored Cistercian abbey on the River Suir that still works as a parish church, with Ireland's finest 15th century chancel.
Farney Castle
A lived in 1495 castle toured by the Cullen family, mixing medieval rooms with porcelain and knitwear made on site.
The Source Arts Centre Thurles
A 250 seat theatre and gallery on the Suir programming comedy, music and theatre, and the town's best evening out.
Rock of Cashel
Ireland's most dramatic medieval cluster on a limestone crag, with Cormac's Chapel and a round tower above the Golden Vale.
Where to stay in Thurles
Liberty Square and the town centre
match days, the Source and walking everywhere
The stadium, pubs and founding story are all on foot, but weekend nights are loud until late.
Dublin Road
drivers who want a pool, parking and a quieter night
Five minutes from the centre with the town's best hotel and an easy exit toward Cashel and the M8.
Horse and Jockey
families and spa weekends
A resort style hotel village ten minutes south, closer to Cashel, with Thurles a short drive for matches.
Inch and the countryside
groups and slow whole house stays
A Georgian house in farmland let whole to groups, dark and quiet at night, with a car essential.
Cashel
luxury and celebration trips
The county's only true luxury hotel by the Rock, 25 minutes from Thurles, and an escape from match night crowds.
Think twice about
- Liberty Square on big match and student nights, for light sleepers
Not unsafe, but crowds spill from pubs and the Hayes nightclub until late. Sleep there for the craic, not despite it.
- Retail and industrial edges on the Slievenamon and Nenagh roads
Safe but charmless, with nothing to walk to after dark. The centre and Dublin Road are better bases at similar prices.
Best restaurants in Thurles
The Bishop's Buttery
Tipperary's only starred dining room, cooking Golden Vale produce in the vaults of Cashel Palace.
Ranna Ghor Indian Restaurant
Thurles's top rated restaurant, an Indian dining room on Liberty Square loved for its food and its warmth to families.
Stars of India
The town's established Indian favourite for Balti and tandoori classics, generous children's portions and bring your own wine.
Park 63
The celebration restaurant of Holycross village, Irish and European cooking that pairs with an Abbey afternoon.
The Wytchway Inn
A welcoming country pub serving the whole family well, with vegetarian and vegan options beyond the usual token dish.
Silks Restaurant
The Horse and Jockey's dining room, backed by an award winning bakery, for a proper sit down Irish hotel dinner.
The Green Sheep
The café locals send you to, for good coffee and proper lunches in the centre before a match or between sights.
Relish Fine Foods & Delicatessen
A deli café for salads, soups and picnic supplies good enough to carry to Cabragh or the Rock of Cashel.
Outdoor things to do in Thurles
Devil's Bit Loop
A waymarked 3.7 km loop to the cross on the Devil's Bit, with views to the Galtees and across half a dozen counties.
Cabragh Wetlands Visitor and Interpretive Centre
A volunteer saved 200 acre wetland on the Suir with a free flat loop, a bird hide and wintering wildfowl close to town.
Thurles Golf Club
One of Ireland's best inland parkland courses, an 18 hole par 72 at Turtulla House that welcomes visiting golfers.
Tipperary Equestrian Centre
A family run centre with an indoor arena and River Suir treks, teaching everyone from first timers to competition riders.
Tipperary Mountain Riding Centre
Hill treks from Upperchurch that genuinely suit both novices and experienced riders in the same mixed group.
Cahir Castle
One of Ireland's largest and best preserved castles on a Suir island, with guided tours for a five euro ticket.
Swiss Cottage
A John Nash cottage orne above the Suir with Parisian wallpaper, a short river walk from Cahir Castle.
Crossogue Equestrian Centre
Serious cross country riding days at a working thoroughbred yard, with expert coaching and celebrated home cooked food.
Best hotels in Thurles
Hayes Hotel
The cheapest central hotel and the GAA's founding building, right for match groups who value location over polish.
Abbeyvale House Bed and Breakfast
A modern B&B on the Cashel Road praised for its host and breakfast, and the quietest good value sleep near town.
Anner Hotel
Thurles's best hotel, a renovated four star with an 18 metre pool and gardens, five minutes from the centre.
Boherna Lodge B&B
A small, highly rated B&B on the town's edge, a calm and good value base for couples driving a Tipperary itinerary.
Horse & Jockey Hotel
A family run four star with a spa, a 21 metre pool and its own bakery, ten minutes south toward Cashel.
Inch House Country House
A Georgian house let whole for up to 19 guests, self catered or privately catered, and Thurles's top group stay.
Cashel Palace Hotel
The county's only true luxury hotel, a Palladian manor by the Rock with a spa and a starred restaurant.
Is Thurles expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €55 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €110 a person |
| Splurge | €260 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- FBD Semple Stadium: weeks ahead
- Farney Castle: a few days ahead
- The Source Arts Centre Thurles: a few days ahead
- Thurles Racecourse: weeks ahead
- Thurles Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Tipperary Equestrian Centre: a few days ahead
- Tipperary Mountain Riding Centre: a few days ahead
- Crossogue Equestrian Centre: weeks ahead
- Book beds six to eight weeks out for a Munster final, a graded race day or a headline Source night.
- The Bishop's Buttery needs weeks for a weekend table, and Crossogue and Inch House reward months ahead booking.
- Check opening before going to Lár na Páirce, Farney Castle and Thurles Racecourse, as all three flex or change.
- Buy match tickets only through official GAA channels, as touts work Liberty Square on big days.
Is Thurles safe?
- Mind pickpockets in the densest pub and stadium crowds on match days, as at any 45000 person event.
- Drive narrow rural roads to Holycross and the hills slowly, especially after dark and rain, and never walk them at night.
- Bring real footwear and a layer for the Devil's Bit, as the summit is exposed and weather turns fast.
- Emergency number is 112 or 999, and your hotel or B&B host is the fastest route to local help.
Thurles travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not expect a destination town: Thurles rewards an event anchored trip and disappoints a wander and browse trip.
- A stadium tour is a fine hour but no substitute for a match day, so do not build a whole trip around one.
- Coolmore Stud is not a walk up attraction: access is by private arrangement, mainly for Cashel Palace guests.
- Mitchel House still turns up in old recommendations but is marked permanently closed, so don't plan dinner around it.
- Reach the Rock of Cashel at opening or after 3pm in summer to avoid the midday coach crowds.
Getting around Thurles: public transport and more
- Use the train: Thurles station has hourly Dublin to Cork services and the town centre, stadium and hotels are all walkable.
- You need a car or a pre booked taxi for Holycross, Farney, Cabragh, the Devil's Bit, Cahir and Cashel.
- On a Munster final day arrive before noon, park once and walk, as the town closes to casual traffic.
- The M8 motorway passes ten minutes east, with exits 5 and 6 serving the Thurles area.
Who Thurles suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Thurles your trip
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