Thurles – What Happened Was!

**The Leaning Pedestrian Crossing lighting standard, Brittas Road, Thurles**, **Co. Tipperary**
*Pic: George Willoughby*.

One of the Pedestrian Crossing lighting standards, situated on Brittas Road, Thurles, (N62) continues to stands, bowing in a northerly four-degree lean.
While some believe this phenomenon is designed as a tourist attraction, and as yet not advertised as part of the 10 things you need to know about Ireland’s Ancient East.
Sorry folks, this is not an attempt to emulate the leaning, yet free-standing bell tower of Pisa in Italy.

What Happened Was!

What happened was that an unsuspecting vehicle driver, obviously a fluent Irish speaker and possibly travelling south, noticed the blatant misspellings and grammar errors relating to two of our directional signposts*. Having briefly taken his/her eyes off the road, a devious Pedestrian Crossing lighting standard; taking advantage of this situation, and without any warning, jumped out in front of the oncoming vehicle, striking it before hopping back into its original place.
No, the qualified Tipperary Council engineers, who have recently taken it upon themselves to construct narrower streets, leaving signposts too close to the edge of pavements are not responsible, as some would secretly claim, latter harbouring such unspoken thoughts behind closed doors.

* Within five hundred yards of each other are two signs both displaying grammatical misspelling of our native language. The housing estate direction sign entitled ‘Cluain Glas‘, (English translation – “Green Field”). Correct spelling should read ‘Cluain Ghlas‘.
Just a few yards closer to Thurles town we find the housing estate direction sign ‘Gort na tSagaire‘, (English translation – “The field of the priest”). Here we find two mistakes. Correct spelling should read ‘Gort an tSagairt‘. Latter correct spelling can be found in the official book “Liostaí Logainmneacha Contae Thiobraid Árann (County Tipperary)” same published in 2004, by the place-names Branch of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

**Three neglected road signs situated on Mill Road, Thurles, all within 800 metres of each other.** **To avoid a choked Liberty Square; this is the same route now being used to avoid Thurles town centre altogether.** **For Gardaí anxious to get a few prosecutions under their belts, before the end of each month, this is the place to sit and point your Traffic Radar Gun.**
*Pic: George Willoughby.*

We have highlighted the problem of the “Moving Road Signs of Thurles” previously with Tipperary Co. Council, but due to the unavailability of a workforce, little or no correction has ever been undertaken.
Hopefully, with the grant of €30,000 in funding, to fill two road craters on the long neglected Cuchulain (Cuchulainn) Road Junction, joining this same Brittas Road, someone will have a spanner in their arse pocket, to turn a lurking STOP sign, to face in the right direction.

Signs in the neglected town of Thurles are not to be trusted. (See the picture above). These signs hide behind hedges, turn their faces in the opposite direction and even resort to camouflage, in an effort to fool and confuse unsuspecting, oncoming and unwary motorists.