Birdhill

Birdhill () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is in the barony of Owney and Arra and is part of the parish of Newport, Birdhill and Toor in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Its Irish name was historically anglicised as Knockan or Knockaneeneen.

==Myth== As recorded by J.F. Lynch, the village is, according to legend, named after an old Fianna story involving Oisín Mac Cumhaill. Upon returning from Tír na nÓg, Oisín met St.Patrick and annoyed the saint with his massive appetite. Oisín claimed that this was not for nothing; that in the time of the Fianna, everything was bigger. St. Patrick accused him of lying, so Oisín set off with his dog and a boy to find a massive bird (as well as a massive oak leaf and rowan berry). He fetched the Dord Fiann (horn of the Fianna) from a cave near Birdhill, and, once atop the height of the hill, used it to summon a bird as big as a cow. Oisín's dog killed the bird but then went mad, forcing Oisín to kill him. After then fetching the leaf and berry, he returned home with them and the corpse of the bird, proving to St. Patrick how big the food of the Fianna was. This story is written at the bottom of a sculpture of a bird in the village centre.