Fethard in Co Tipperary has the “most complete medieval town wall” in Ireland, according to the map provided during a visit earlier in the summer. But it is not the only notable thing about this charming rural town. The famous Coolmore Stud is only a couple of kilometres out the road, and what local people refer to as “horse money” is evident before even getting out of the car. A van with Coolmore branding is quickly spotted driving over a bridge. Sadler’s cafe and restaurant is full of racing memorabilia. It is owned by the Magnier family, who run Coolmore Stud. Horses have grazed and galloped in the Fethard fields for centuries – certainly for as long as the medieval town walls have been standing. Terry Cunningham, who has been involved in the Fethard Historical Society for a remarkable four decades, provides a tour around the town walls. There are, he says, about 30 people in the society. When he came to live in Fethard 41 years ago, Cunningham says a large proportion of the town was derelict. “Even domestic buildings on the Main Street.”Along the south section of the wall, which to the untrained eye looks to have been fairly recently repaired, restored or cleaned up in some way, Cunningham draws attention to a faint line. It runs along the wall about two-thirds of the way up and is a lighter colour than the rest of the stone. “That is where the wall was built up in the early 1990s or thereabouts,” he says. “It probably wouldn’t happen now. The thing now is, you don’t restore, you conserve.” [ The walled town of Wexford: ‘Some people said to us that it must be like living in a prison’Opens in new window ]He explains that, although nobody can really say for sure exactly what Fethard’s stone walls looked like when built during the 14th and 15th centuries, “they were definitely not in ruins”.Walls, of course, have two sides, and Cunningham talks about the challenge of trying to figure out who is responsible for taking care of them. Apparently if you have a private business or residence on one side, you are meant to be responsible for that side, although this seems to be more of an ad hoc arrangement than anything formal. As for the side that faces public property, that is apparently under different guardianship, although by whom is unclear. Local historian Terry Cunningham at the North Gate in and out of Fethard, Co Tipperary. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien