Middle Third (County Tipperary)

Middle Third (Irish: An Trian Meánach; also spelled Middlethird) is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Cashel. The barony lies between Eliogarty to the north (whose chief town is Thurles), Iffa and Offa East to the south (whose chief town is Clonmel), Clanwilliam to the west (whose chief town is Tipperary) and Slievardagh to the east (whose chief town is Mullinahone). It is currently administered by Tipperary County Council.

Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown.

The history of the barony is also the history of the Kingdom of Munster which had Cashel for its capital. Later, the kingdom would be divided into northern and southern statelets.

The Éoganacht were a federation of tribes claiming a common lineage and spread throughout Munster. They were noted as kings of Munster from an early period until the rise of the Dal gCais in the 10th century. The main sub-tribes in the region of the barony were:

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