Page "Thurles" Paragraph 5

Towards the end of the twelfth century, the power of the O ' Fogarty clan began to wane and by the early part of the thirteenth century, the Norman family of Butler came to be the most powerful.

It is to that family that Thurles owes much of its early development.

Their architectural legacy may be seen today with two of the original family fortresses still standing ( the Black Castle near the centre and O ' Fogarty Castle by the Suir ).