Fethard (; ) is a small town in County Tipperary, Ireland. Dating to the Norman invasion of Ireland, the town's walls were first laid-out in the 13th century, with some sections of these defensive fortifications surviving today. Fethard is located east of Cashel on the Clashawley River where the R692, R689 and R706 regional roads intersect. It is a civil parish in the barony of Middle Third and in the ecclesiastical parish of "Fethard and Killusty" in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. , the town's population was 1,545. History Fethard was founded in the early 13th century during the Norman invasion of Ireland. While the low hill, on which the town stands, may have been the location of a pre-Norman church, the first evidence of significant settlement dates from 1201, when a Norman lord, likely William de Braose, settled here. Fethard was laid-out with a market area, a church and graveyard, and a regular pattern of streets. Its economy was supported by the area's arable farmland. Fethard's founding charter gave it the status of a 'borough' and provided it with a constitution. Under this constitution, the town's people (burgesses) had fixed annual rents, access to a court, and defined fines for certain offences. The town and lands of Fethard passed out of William de Braose's hands in 1208 following a dispute with King John. In 1215 Fethard was granted to the archbishops of Cashel, and it remained part of the archepiscopal estates until the 16th century. At the start of the 14th century, an Augustinian Friary was established outside the town. Because of some lawlessness in the town's hinterland (marked, for example, when the nearby woods of Thomas de St Aubin were cleared because some travelling merchants had been robbed or killed), defensive walls were built around Fethard and other towns in the area. The first reference to the walling of Fethard dates to 1292 when the king allowed levies to be applied (over seven years) on items sold in the town, with the collected funds allocated to "the inclosing of their vill and the greater security of Ireland". Records of money still being collected (to fund wall building) date to the 14th century, with another grant issued for Fethard in 1375. This grant specified that stone walls were to be built, suggesting that the earlier town walls were made of earth and timber. The town received