How the crossroads got its name
The rag at the window
During the Civil War, men on the run from the Free State forces would shelter with local farming families, working the fields to stay unseen. When soldiers came near, the women of the house put a rag out the upper window - signal enough for the men to scatter into the hedges. The crossroads where the pub stood became known as The Ragg. An older explanation says the rag was hoisted when poitín was ready and the revelry could start; the Irish word ragairne - going out rambling and carousing - is in the same neighbourhood. Both stories are told. Both are probably partly true.
The most productive forward Tipperary ever produced
Séamus Callanan
Séamus Callanan grew up in the Drom and Inch parish, played his club hurling at the ground in Bouladuff, and retired in September 2023 as one of the best forwards the county ever sent out. Three All-Ireland medals - 2010, 2016, 2019. Hurler of the Year in 2019, the year he captained Tipperary to the All-Ireland Final and scored 1-2 against Kilkenny. Forty championship goals - a Tipperary record. Four All Stars. The club whose ground is in a village of fifteen houses produced all of that.
The black cattle-fold
An Bhuaile Dhubh
The Irish place name translates as the black cattle-fold or black summer-pasture - buaile meaning upland grazing land, dubh meaning black. The parish name is Inch. The townland is Bouladuff. The crossroads is The Ragg. Three names for the same spot, each one telling a slightly different story about what mattered most to whoever was using it.