Cullen, County Tipperary
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Cullen
|native_name = {{lang|ga|Cuilleann}}
|native_name_lang = ga
|settlement_type = Village
|image_skyline = Cullen NS.jpg
|image_caption = Sign at Cullen national school with old Irish name Cuileann Ó gCuanach, "Cullen of the Cooneys"
|pushpin_map = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = right
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = Ireland
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = Munster
|subdivision_type3 = County
|subdivision_name3 = County Tipperary
|established_title =
|established_date =
|unit_pref = Metric
|area_footnotes =
|area_total_km2 =
|population_as_of = 2016
|population_note = (Cullen Electoral Division)
|population = 289
|population_density_km2 = auto
| postal_code_type =Eircode
| postal_code =E34
|timezone = WET
|utc_offset = ±0
|timezone_DST = IST
|utc_offset_DST = +1
|coordinates = {{coord|52.5127|-8.2758|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 129
|blank_name = Irish Grid Reference
|blank_info = {{iem4ibx|R812401}}
| area_code_type = Telephone area code
| area_code = 062
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
Cullen ({{irish place name|Cuilleann}}) is a rural village in County Tipperary, Ireland.{{cite web|work=Placenames Database of Ireland|url=https://www.logainm.ie/1414514.aspx|publisher=Dublin City University|title = Cuilleann / Cullen | accessdate=11 February 2015}} The centre of the village is located at a junction of two roads in south Tipperary, 9 km north-east of Tipperary town. These roads lead to Monard, Lattin, the "Rocky Road" and Oola respectively. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.
Name
The village was traditionally believed to have taken its name from the holly ({{lang|ga|cuileann}}), although an Irish legend claimed that Fionn Mac Cumhail killed a hero named Cuileann, son of Morna at this site in the 3rd century AD.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JR9pAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22Cuilleann+%22+holly+tipperary&pg=PA1715|title=Annala Rioghachta Eireann; Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616|first=Michael|last=O'Clery|date=31 August 1851|publisher=Hodges and Smith|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OowJAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Cullen++%22+holly+tipperary&pg=PA495|title=The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places|first=Patrick Weston|last=Joyce|date=31 August 1871|publisher=McGlashan & Gill|via=Google Books}} Another possible derivation is {{lang|ga|cuilleann}}, 'steep unbroken slope' – the village is dominated by a sloping road.{{Cite web|url=https://eamonncmckee.com/2021/02/13/the-beauty-magic-and-mystery-of-slieve-gullion-sliabh-gcuillinn/|title=The Beauty, Magic, and Mystery of Slieve Gullion – Sliabh gCuillinn|date=13 February 2021}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Cullen++%22+slope+tipperary&pg=PA142|title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names|first=David|last=Mills|date=20 October 2011|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-960908-6 |via=Google Books}}
Amenities
Cullen is home to a public house (pub), a cemetery and a Roman Catholic church. This church is dedicated to Saint Patrick and was built {{circa|1845}}.{{cite web | url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22205802/cullen-tipperary-south | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Cullen, Tipperary South | accessdate = 2 January 2021 }}{{cite web|url = https://cashel-emly.ie/parish/lattin-cullen/ | publisher = Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly | website = cashel-emly.ie | title = Lattin & Cullen Parish | accessdate = 2 January 2021}}
Just outside the village, on the road approaching Oola, County Limerick, is St. Patrick's Well. This is still accessible, and was an important source of fresh water for local residents before the gradual advent of domestic plumbing became common from the mid-20th century.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Cullen–Lattin soccer pitch is the venue for the Cullen–Lattin soccer team. It is called this because the villages of Cullen and Lattin (approx. 4 miles from Cullen) are joined as one parish in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
Sport
The Gaelic Athletic Association affiliations of the joint parish is concentrated in the village of Lattin; the team called Lattin–Cullen (to differentiate with the soccer team Cullen–Lattin).
Cullen is also part of the shooting club known as "E.L.C.O. Gun Club" (Emly, Lattin, Cullen, Oola Gun club). This gun club is open for membership to residents and former residents of the lands within the E.L.C.O. area.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}
Archaeology
In the 18th and 19th centuries many prehistoric items were found in the nearby Golden Bog of Cullen. It is possible that the finds were votive offerings from the Bronze Age. Also nearby is Longstone Rath, an Iron Age ringfort.{{cite book |last=De Breffny |first=Brian |author-link= |date=1983 |title=Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia |url= |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |pages=72-73 |isbn=}}
People
Nicky English, the former Tipperary hurler and manager, was born and raised in Cullen, living in what was a small shop run by his parents.