CLONMEL, a parish and borough, market and assize town,
chiefly in the barony of IFFA and OFFA-EAST, county of TIPPERARY,
and province of MUNSTER, and partly in the barony of UPPERTHIRD,
county of WATERFORD, 23 miles (W. by N.) from Waterford, and
82½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Dublin; containing 20,035
inhabitants, of which number,
17,838 are in the town. This place, of which
the origin is ascribed to a period prior to the inva
sion of the Danes, is supposed to have derived its
name from Cluain-Meula, signifying in the Irish lan
guage the "plain of honey," in allusion either to the
character of its situation and the peculiar richness
of the soil, or to the valley in which it stands being
bounded by picturesque mountains that afford honey of
fine flavour. It appears to h;ave been the capital of the
palatine liberty, as it now is of the county of Tipperary;
and is probably indebted for its early importance to the
patronage of the Butler family. According to Archdall,
a Dominican friary was founded here in 1269, but by
whom is not known; and the same author states that
the Franciscan friary was also founded in that year by
Otho de Grandison, though the date inscribed upon it
is 1265: this friary was reformed in 1536, by the friars
of the Strict Observance, and having been surrendered
to the Crown in 1540, was, with its possessions, three
years after, granted in moieties to the sovereign and
commonalty of Clonmel and the Earl of Ormonde; its
church was esteemed one of the most magnificent eccle
siastical structures in the country. In 1516, the town,
which was surrounded with walls and strongly fortified,
was besieged and taken by the Earl of Kildare; and
during the civil war of the 17th century, having been
garrisoned for the king by the Marquess of Ormonde, it
was attacked by Cromwell in 1650, with his army from
Kilkenny, but was bravely defended by Hugh O'Nial, a
northern officer, who, with 1200 of his provincial forces,
maintained it with such valour that, in the first assault,
not less than 2000 of the besieging army were slain,
and the siege was turned into a blockade. After a re
solute defence for two months, the garrison, being with
out any prospect of obtaining relief, secretly withdrew
to Waterford, and the inhabitants surrendered upon
honourable terms: the town remained in the possession
of the parliamentarians till a short time prior to the
Restoratioia, when it was retaken by the royalists. At
the Revolution, the town, which was held by the parti
sans of Jas. II., was abandoned on the approach of
William's army to besiege Waterford.
It is situated on the banks of the river Suir, in
a beautiful and fertile valley bounded by picturesque
mountains, and on one of the two main roads from
Dublin to Cork, and that from Waterford to Limerick.
With the exception of that portion which is built on
islands in the river, it is wholly on the northern or Tipperary
side of the Suir, and is connected with the Water
ford portion by three bridges of stone. The principal
street is spacious, and extends from east to west, under
different names, for more than a mile in a direction
nearly parallel with the river; the total number of
houses, in 1831, was 1532. The town is lighted with
gas from works erected, in 1824, by Messrs. Barton and
Robinson, of London, who sold them, before they were
completed, for about £8000 to the British Gas-Light
Company of London, under whom they are now held
on lease. The provisions of the act of the 9th of George
IV., for lighting and watching towns in Ireland, have
been adopted here: the inhabitants are amply supplied
with water by public pumps in the various streets.
Several newspapers are published, and there are four
news-rooms, one of which is a handsome building lately
erected at the eastern end of the town, and called the
County Club House. At the eastern entrance into the
town are extensive barracks for artillery, cavalry, and
infantry; behind them, on an elevated and healthy spot,
is a small military hospital, capable of receiving 40
patients.
In 1667, the plan of Sir Peter Pett for introducing
the woollen manufacture into Ireland was carried into
effect by the Duke of Ormonde, then Lord-Lieutenant;
and, in order to provide a sufficient number of workmen,
500 families of the Walloons were invited over from
Canterbury to settle here. The manufacture continued
to flourish for some time, but at length fell into decay,
in consequence of the prohibitory statutes passed by the
English parliament soon after the Revolution, and is at
present nearly extinct. A factory for weaving cotton
has been established by Mr. Malcomson, which at present
affords employment to 150 girls; he has also an exten
sive cotton-factory at Portlaw, in the county of Water
ford. A very extensive trade is carried on in grain and
other agricultural produce of the district, principally with
the Liverpool and Manchester markets; great quantities
of bacon are also cured and sent to London and the
channel ports. There are two very large ale and porter
breweries in the town; and at Marlfield, about a mile
distant, is a distillery for whiskey upon a very extensive
scale. The Excise duties collected within this district,
in 1835, amounted to £75,520. 16. The only mineral
production in the neighbourhood which forms an article
of commerce is slate, of good quality, found at Glenpatrick
and worked by the Irish Mining Company.
Though not a sea-port, the town, from its situation at
the head of the Suir navigation, is the medium through
which the corn and provision export trade is carried on
between the southern and eastern portions of this large
county and England. There are generally about 120
lighters, of from 20 to 50 tons burden, employed in
the trade of this place; and several hundred carriers are
engaged during winter on the roads communicating
with Clonmel and the principal towns within 40 miles
round: a considerable portion of the trade of Waterford
also passes through the town. In the year ending
Anril 30th, 1832, not less than 230,543 cwt. of flour,
3B
28,678 barrels of wheat, 19,445 barrels of oats, 3878
barrels of barley, 21,559 cwt. of butter, 2769 cwt. of
lard, and 63,751 flitches of bacon, besides smaller quan
tities not enumerated, were sent for exportation. The
navigation of the Suir was formerly very imperfect: in
1765,, a parliamentary grant was obtained to form a
towing-path, by which the passage of the boats has
been greatly accelerated. The river is still in many
places so shallow that, in dry seasons, the navigation is
much impeded. An act has recently been obtained for
its improvement; and it is proposed to form a railroad
between Carrick, where a basin is intended to be formed,
and Limerick, thereby opening a communication between
the Suir and the Shannon. There is a salmon fishery
in the river, the quays of which are spacious and com
modious, extending from the central bridge along the
north side. The Bank of Ireland, the Provincial Bank,
the Agricultural and Commercial Bank, and the National
Bank of Ireland, have branch establishments here.
The market days, under the charter of the 6th of
Jas. I., are Tuesday and Saturday; and fairs are held
on May 5th and Nov. 5th, and also on the first Wednes
day in every month (except May and November), for
the sale of cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs, and on the
preceding day for pigs only. The butter market is a
spacious building, provided with suitable offices for the
inspector and others; all butter, whether for home
consumption or exportation must be weighed and duly
entered: there are also convenient shambles and a large
potatoe market. The post is daily; the revenue of
which, for 1835, was about £3000. The royal mail and
day car establishment, under the direction of its propri
etor, Mr. Bianconi (to whose enterprising exertions the
south of Ireland is so much indebted for the establish
ment of public cars), is in this town. A chief constabu
lary police station has been established here.
The corporation is of great antiquity, and probably
exists by prescription. Numerous charters have at
various times been granted since the reign of Edw. I.;
that under which the borough is now governed was
granted in the 6th of Jas. I. (1608), and, under the title
of "The Mayor, Bailiffs, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty
of the Town or Borough of Clonmel," ordains that the
corporation shall consist of a mayor, two bailiffs, twenty
free burgesses (including the mayor and bailiffs), and a
commonalty, with a recorder, chamberlain, town-clerk,
and other officers. The freedom was formerly obtained
by nomination of a burgess to the common council, a
majority of whom decided on the admission; but at
present the rights of birth, extending only to the eldest
son, apprenticeship to a freeman within the borough,
and marriage with a freeman's daughter, are recognised
as titles to it. The borough returned two members to
the Irish Parliament till the Union, since which time it
has sent one to the Imperial Parliament. The elective
franchise was vested in the freemen at large, amounting,
in the year 1832, to 94 in number; but by the act of the
2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, it has extended to the £10
householders: the number of voters registered at the
close of 1835 was 805; the mayor is the returning officer.
The electoral boundary, under the act of the 2nd and
3rd of Wm. IV., cap. 89, is confined to the town, in
cluding Long Island on the south and a space on the
north side of the river for buildings contemplated in
that quarter, and comprises an area of 361 statute acres,
the limits of which are minutely described in the Ap
pendix. The jurisdiction of the corporation extends
over a large rural district comprising about 4800 statute
acres, of which 3800 are in the county of Waterford,
and 1000 in Tipperary: the mayor and recorder are
justices of the peace. The Tholsel court, for determining
pleas to any amount within the town and liberties, in
which the cause of action must arise or the defendant
reside, is held every Wednesday, before the mayor and
bailiffs. The mayor's court, in which he presides, is
held every Wednesday, for the recovery of debts not
exceeding 10s. late currency; and the mayor and bailiffs
hold a court leet twice in the year. Petty sessions are
held every alternate Friday. The elections for par
liamentary representatives, and the assizes and quarter
sessions for the county of Tipperary are held here, the
last in April and October. The old court-house, which
was built after a design by Sir Christopher Wren, was
some years since converted into shops; the new court
house is a light and handsome structure. The county
gaol is a large stone building; but prior to the erection
of the house of correction, which was completed in the
year 1834, it was too small for the number of prisoners
generally confined in it; it is now adapted to their
classification, contains schools for both sexes and a
tread-mill, which is applied to the raising of water for
the supply of the prison.
The parish extends beyond the Suir a considerable
distance into the county of Waterford, and comprises
8907 statute acres, of which 5922 are applotted under
the tithe act. The principal seats are Knocklofty, that
of the Earl of Donoughmore; Kilmanahan Castle, of
Lieut.-Col. Nuttall Greene; Marlfield, of J. Bagwell,
Esq.; Barn, of S. Moore, Esq.; Woodrooff, of W.
Perry, Esq.; Rathronan, of Major-Gen. Sir H. Gough,
K.C.B.; Kiltinane Castle, of R. Cooke,Esq.; Darling Hill,
of the Hon. Baron Pennefather; and Newtown-Anner,
of Lady Osborne: there are also many other handsome
residences. The views from the demesnes of Knocklofty
and Kilmanahan Castle abound with interest and
variety, and are not surpassed by any in this part of
the country. At Kiltinane Castle a very rapid stream
issuing from a rock forms a remarkable natural curi
osity. The living is an entire rectory, in the diocese of
Lismore, and in the gift of the Corporation: the tithes
amount to £300. The glebe-house was built by aid of a
gift of £100 and a loan of £650 from the late Board
of First Fruits, in 1810; the glebe, dispersed in small
parcels in the town and suburbs, comprises 2a. 1r. 2p.
The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient struc
ture, with a handsome octangular embattled tower, 84
feet high, at the eastern extremity of the south side; it
was formerly a good specimen of the early English style
of architecture, but on its repair, in 1805, it was mo
dernised and retains but little of its original character; a
grant of £1019.12. was made by the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners for its repair. In the chancel is a beautiful
monument, by Taylor of York, to the memory of Mary,
wife of J. Bagwell, Esq., and recording also the death
of that gentleman and his eldest son, the late Rt. Hon.
Wm. Bagwell, uncle of the present proprietor of Marlfield.
There is also a monument erected, by the parishioners,
in the year 1795,. as a tribute of respect to the memory of
Dr. J. Moore, who was rector of this parish for 66 years.
In the porch are slabs with inscriptions and armorial
bearings of the noble family of Hutchinson, Lord Donoughmore,
and in one of the shields are impaled the
arms of Moore, of Barn. The R. C. parish is co-extensive
with that of the Established Church, and is the
benefice of the vicar-general of the united dioceses of
Waterford and Lismore, and contains two chapels, one
in Irishtown, and the other a large and neat modern
building in Johnston-street; also a Franciscan friary in
Warren-street, lately rebuilt, and a Presentation convent
situated beyond the western bridge. There are places
of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the
Synod of Munster, the Society of Friends, Baptists,
Unitarians, and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists.
The grammar school was founded in 1685, by R. and S.
Moore, Esqrs., ancestors of the Mount-Cashel family,
who endowed it with the lands of Lissenure and Clonbough,
in the county of Tipperary, producing a rental of
£369, for the gratuitous instruction of the sons of freemen
in Latin. The old school-house having fallen into
decay, a large and substantial building has been erected
within the last few years at the western extremity of the
town, on a site granted at a nominal rent by the late
Col. Bagwell, and at an expense of nearly £5000, of
which £4000 was advanced out of the consolidated fund,
for the repayment of which £240 per annum is appropriated
from the proceeds of the endowment: there are
at present, including boarders, about 90 boys in the
school. A parochial school for boys is partly supported
by a joint bequest from Dr. Ladyman and Mrs. Pomeroy,
amounting to £7 per annum, late currency, and £2
per annum from, the rector; and there are a parochial
school for girls and an infants' school, both supported
by voluntary contributions: a handsome and commodious
building has been lately erected for these schools, containing
three school-rooms, each capable of accommodating
100 scholars. Two schools for girls are superintended
by two ladies, who teach the children gratuitously; a
school for boys is supported by collections at the R. C.
chapels, which are partly appropriated in paying the
master's salary, and partly in providing clothing for the
children; and there are Sunday schools in connection
with the Established Church and the Presbyterian and
Methodists1 congregations. The number of children in
attendance daily is, on an average, 580; and in the private
pay schools are about 650 children.
The fever hospital and dispensary adjacent to it, both
handsome and commodious buildings on the north side
of the town, are liberally supported. The house of
industry for the county of Tipperary, for the recaption
and support of 50 male and 50 female aged and
infirm poor persons of good character, and for the
restraint of male and female vagrants, is an extensive
building in an airy situation at the foot of the western
bridge, opened in 1811: it is supported by grand jury
presentments, and is under the government of a corporation
by act of parliament; it has a department for
orphan children, who, when of proper age, are apprenticed
to different trades; the receipts last year were
£1543.5., and the expenditure, £1335.16. A district
lunatic asylum for the county of Tipperary was opened
in 1835: the building is capable of accommodating 60
patients, and was erected at an expense, including the
purchase of land, furniture, &c, of £16,588. A savings'
bank has been established; and there are also a mendicity
society and a clothing society, the latter esta-
blished in 1833. A society has lately been formed for
the maintenance and education of the orphan children
of Protestant parents, and within the first year, 33 were
so provided for. Several charitable bequests to a considerable
amount have been left to the parish by different
individuals.
Of the town walls, which encompassed only what is
now the central part of the town, on the northern bank
of the river, there are only very imperfect remains; the
entrance was by four principal gates, of which only the
west gate, which has been lately very substantially repaired
and forms an ornament to the town, is now
standing; and of the various towers by which they
were defended, there are three remaining near the churchyard.
Near the western end of the town are the ruins
of the church of St. Stephen, and in the southern suburb
are those of the church of St. Nicholas. Some trifling
remains of the ancient castle may still be traced in what
is now the office of the Tipperary Free Press. In the
neighbourhood are the ruins of several castles, and
traces of encampments or Danish forts; at Gurteen
is a cairn or druids' altar; and near Oakland is a holy
well, called St. Patrick's well; also the ruins of an ancient
chapel, in which are several large stones bearing
inscriptions. About half a mile to the south-east is
a chalybeate spring, resorted to medicinally; and near
the south suburb is another of similar kind, but not
much used. The Rev. Laurence Sterne was born here
in 1713; and Bonaventura Baro, or Baron, who wrote
numerous works during a long residence at Rome, where
he died in 1696, was also born here. Clonmel gives the
titles of Earl and Viscount to the family of Scott; the
father of the present Earl was the Rt. Hon. John Scott,
the celebrated chief justice of the King's Bench in
Ireland, who was created Baron Earlsfort in 1784, and
was advanced to the Viscounty of Clonmel in 1789,
and to the earldom in 1793.