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BALLYPOREEN

CO. TIPPERARY · IE

Ballyporeen
Béal Átha Póirín, Co. Tipperary

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

Béal Átha Póirín · Co. Tipperary

The village a president crossed an ocean to find.

Ballyporeen sits in the Galtee-Vee Valley with the Galtee Mountains pressing down from the north and the Knockmealdowns rolling up from the south. The River Duag threads through the middle. It was a coaching-road village first - on the old Cork-to-Dublin route - and then a market town run by the Earls of Kingston. By the time the twentieth century was done with it, it had become famous for one afternoon in 1984.

On 3 June 1984, Ronald Reagan stood at the crossroads of a village of a few hundred people and spoke to three thousand. His great-grandfather, Michael Regan, had been baptised at the Church of the Assumption on 3 September 1829 - the youngest son of Thomas O'Regan and Margaret Murphy - and had left for London and then Illinois long before anyone knew the name would matter. Reagan was the sitting president of the United States. He drank a glass of stout in O'Farrell's pub, which had by then been renamed the Ronald Reagan. He said he felt like he was about to drown everyone in nostalgia. The crowd, soaked by rain, didn't mind.

The pub closed in 2004, the year Reagan died. The following year the fittings, the sign, and most of what was in it were shipped to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, where they were rebuilt as part of the Air Force One Pavilion. The building still stands on Main Street. The village still has the baptismal font. And the Galtees have been there through all of it, which is the most Tipperary thing imaginable.

Population

~318

Walk score

Main Street in five minutes, mountains in twenty

Founded

Coaching-road village, established by the Earls of Kingston by c. 1810

Coords

52.2868° N, 8.0819° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The Reagan connection

His great-grandfather was baptised here in 1829. He came back in 1984.

Michael Regan's name is in the baptismal register at the Church of the Assumption. Ronald Reagan stood at the crossroads and told a crowd of three thousand he felt like he was about to drown everyone in a bath of nostalgia. The crowd was delighted.

Stories & lore → 02 The Galtees

Ireland's highest inland peak starts here.

Galtymore rises to 918 metres - the highest point in Ireland that isn't on the coast. The southern approach from the Black Road, an old turf track, is the quietest way up. Three or four hours, and most of it is just you and the mountain.

Walks & outings → 03 The Vee

One V-bend, two counties, one view that earns the drive.

Head south on the R668, climb through the Knockmealdowns, and the road bends into a tight V at 450 metres with the Golden Vale spread out below and Ballyporeen in the middle distance. The road drops into Lismore and Waterford on the other side.

Walks & outings →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The Doolis Inn

Local, low-key

Village pub, Main Street

The working pub of Ballyporeen. Not a museum piece. A pint here and you're at the social centre of the village, which has been the point of village pubs since well before any president arrived.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

A name, a date, a country that changed

The baptismal register

Michael Regan was baptised on 3 September 1829 at the Church of the Assumption in Ballyporeen - the youngest son of Thomas O'Regan and Margaret Murphy. He left Ireland in the wake of the Famine, spent time in London making soap, anglicised the family name to Reagan, and emigrated to Illinois in 1857. Three generations later, one of his descendants was the 40th President of the United States. When Reagan visited in 1984, he was shown the register. The baptismal font is still in the church. The name is still on the page.

Three thousand people in the rain

The afternoon in 1984

Reagan visited on 3 June 1984, part of a European tour that included the D-Day commemorations in Normandy. Ballyporeen was not, by any measure, a scheduled power meeting. A crowd of three thousand gathered at the crossroads - the village at the time had a few hundred residents - and stood in the rain while the president spoke about his Irish roots and drank a glass of stout in the pub across the road. The pub, until then O'Farrell's, had been renamed the Ronald Reagan for the occasion. The sign went up before the visit. The president approved.

From Tipperary to California

The pub that crossed the Atlantic

John and Mary O'Farrell renamed their pub the Ronald Reagan when genealogists confirmed the president's ancestry in the early 1980s. Reagan drank there in 1984. The pub traded for another twenty years, closing in 2004 - the same year Reagan died in California. The following year, the entire interior - fittings, signage, bar - was dismantled and shipped to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, where it was rebuilt as part of the Air Force One Pavilion. The building on Main Street in Ballyporeen is still there. The pub is not.

The landlords who built the village

The Earls of Kingston

Ballyporeen as a settled place owes more to the Kingston estate than to any natural geography. The Earls of Kingston controlled the market rights in the area and by 1810 had established a three-times-yearly open-air market in the village. The coaching road between Cork and Dublin ran through here, bringing trade and travellers. The village grew around the market and the road. The Kingstons had a big house nearby. Most of what they built is gone. The road remains, and the crossroads, and the pattern of the village they laid out.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Galtymore - Black Road (southern approach) The quietest way up Ireland's highest inland peak (918m). The Black Road is an old turf track running north from the Skeheenarinky area. You can take in Galtybeg on the way up. No scramble required. A long ridge walk at the top, views south into Cork, north into Tipperary. Start early in poor weather - cloud can close in fast.

9 km returndistance

3-4 hourstime

The Vee and Bay Lough Drive south from Ballyporeen on the R668 to the top of the Vee pass. Park at the viewpoint and walk the loop around Bay Lough, a corrie lake sat between Knockaunabulloga and the Sugar Loaf. The view north across the Golden Vale from the top of the pass is one of the best in Munster. Best in late spring when the rhododendrons are out.

4 km loop from the Vee viewpointdistance

1.5 hourstime

Ballyporeen village loop Out from Main Street along the River Duag, up into the lower Galtee foothills, and back through the fields. Flat enough for families. The mountain backdrop earns it.

5 kmdistance

1 hourtime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The Galtees are at their best in May - clear days, no summer crowd, good visibility for the summit. The Vee rhododendrons flower late April through May.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

This is not a tourist-saturated village. June and July are fine. The anniversary of the Reagan visit (3 June) sometimes draws a small commemoration. Long evenings for the mountains.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Walking season proper. The Galtees are quieter than the summer and the light over the valley is good. Cahir and Mitchelstown are twenty minutes either way.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

The mountains are serious in winter weather. The village is quiet. The Doolis is open. If you're here for the church and the register rather than the walking, any day works.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Driving to Ballyporeen expecting a Reagan museum

The visitor centre that opened after the 1984 visit is no longer operating as a dedicated attraction. The Church of the Assumption has the baptismal font and the register entry. That's the primary source. It's free and it's the real thing.

The Galtees on a cloudy day without local knowledge

Galtymore is 918 metres and the weather on the summit changes fast. Cloud drops in without warning. Know where you're going before you start. The Black Road approach is good; wandering is not.

Rushing the Vee as a five-minute Instagram stop

The pass is twenty minutes from the village and the view at the top takes an hour to properly see. Park at the viewpoint. Walk around Bay Lough. Let the Golden Vale sit there for a while. The view is not improved by being seen quickly.

Getting there.

By car

Cahir is 20 minutes north on the R668. Mitchelstown in Cork is 15 minutes south. From Clonmel take the R665 south-west - about 30 minutes through south Tipperary back roads. The village is not on a main road; a car is the only sensible way in.

By bus

Bus Éireann services are limited in this part of south Tipperary. Check current timetables from Cahir or Clonmel. Infrequent.

By train

Nearest stations are Cahir (Waterford-Limerick line) and Mitchelstown area is not served. Car from either station is the only option.

By air

Cork Airport is 70km south - about an hour by car through Mitchelstown. Shannon is 90 minutes. Waterford Airport is 45 minutes.