Clonmel (Co. Tipperary)
Clonmel & Environs
Clonmel
Clonmel (Cluain Meala – “Meadow of the Honey”) (pop.24,000) straddles the River Suir, on the border between Co. Tipperary and Co. Waterford. It lies in a valley, surrounded by mountains and hills. The administrative capital of South Tipperary, Clonmel is the biggest town in the whole county, the largest inland town in the Republic, and in the opinion of many, one of the prettiest in Ireland. Although a bustling commercial centre, it retains an oddly genteel air, as though not fully of our times. It has several good hotels, pubs and restaurants.
The West Gate, an open arched entrance on to the main street, now called O’Connell St, is a C19th reconstruction of one of the former entry points through the medieval town wall, a small section of which remains in place. Clonmel is believed to have been founded by William de Burgo in the late C12th , and was later held for several centuries by the Butlers of Ormond.
Oliver Cromwell laid siege to Clonmel in May 1650. The walls were eventually breached, but Hugh Dubh O’Neill, the commander of the town’s garrison, inflicted heavy losses on Cromwell’s troops when they tried to storm the breach. However, the garrison in Clonmel surrendered the following day, as O’Neill’s men were out of gunpowder. The story is told that Cromwell discovered this when a silver bullet was discharged at his troops outside the walls. As a mark of respect to the townspeople and in recognition of their fortitude in defending their town, Cromwell donated his sword, which can be seen in Clonmel Town Hall to this day.
The Main Guard was built by James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, as a courthouse for the Palatinate of the Liberty of Tipperary, and it bears two panels showing coats of arms dated 1675. The Palatinate jurisdiction was extinguished in 1715. Based on a design by Sir Christopher Wren, the building has had its open arcade of sandstone columns restored and is open to the public.
The literary comic genius Laurence Sterne (1713 – 1768), author of A Sentimental Journey and Tristram Shandy, was from Clonmel, and it’s not at all difficult to imagine Shandyesque shenanigans in the fine Georgian country houses of the vicinity.
In the C18th a large number of members of the Society of Friends settled in the area, and Clonmel became known as the Quaker City of the South. These families were mostly involved in milling, and at one stage there were 23 mills in the vicinity. Other industries included tobacco, tanning, wool and brewing.
Clonmel’s heyday was between 1775 and 1840, when economic development, an agricultural boom and use of the river for cheap transport helped make Clonmel on of the most important commercial and industrial inland towns in Ireland.
Carlo Bianconi (1786-1875) established and ran the most successful and extensive coach business in Ireland from what is now Hearn’s Hotel on Parnell St. The first run was initiated in 1815.
In common with most of South Tipperary, Clonmel was relatively unaffected by the Great Famine. However, the area had a very high crime rate in the C19th, with many “outrages” committed against Anglo-Irish landlords and their servants. There is some evidence that another set of victims may have been unemployed and starving “spalpeens” from other blight-struck parts of the country, whom locals feared would undercut their wages.
The County Courthouse, designed by Richard Morrison in 1802 and recently refurbished, was where the Young Irelander rebels of 1848, includingWilliam Smith O’Brien and Thomas Francis Meagher, were tried and convicted for their roles in the Cabbage-Patch Revolt and sentenced to be hanged drawn and quartered; after a public campaign raised over 70,000 signatures, these sentences were commuted to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).
Clonmel had no less than three gaols operating in the C19th, and two places of execution in regular use. Many of the hangings that took place on Fair Days are recorded in the contemporary press, and also in popular folk songs. There can be no doubt that some were little more than judicial murders.
Old St. Mary’s Church (CoI) was founded in 1204, and survived Cromwell’s siege, but the present edifice dates from 1857. Virtually none of the original building remains above ground. Mailed skeletons have been found beneath the nave of the church.
The C14th Franciscan Friary, re-established in the C19th and only recently closed due to lack of vocations, contains a 1533 Butler tomb depicting a knight and his Lady, and also has some fine modern stained glass windows.
The 1798 Rebellion had relatively little direct impact on Clonmel, but is nevertheless commemorated by a statue in front of the Town Hall known as The ‘98 Man, unveiled in 1904. The sculptor was James K. Bracken of Templemore, a founder of the GAA and father of Brendan Bracken, Minister for Information in Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet.
The County Museum is worth visiting for its permanent collection, and also hosts interesting exhibitions.
The Museum of Transport houses two rooms of gleaming nostalgia, including Rolls Royces, Jaguars and Fords from the 1930s on and a 1965 VW Karman Ghia. These can only be viewed by appointment.
South Tipperary Arts Centre organises interesting programmes of films, plays and exhibitions.
The Richard Mulcahy Town Park occupies 11 riverside acres, and features a fine selection of broadleaf trees including oak, beech, ash, lime, hornbeam, maple, elm, horse chestnut, turkish hazel, plane and willow. There is also a pinetum containing pines, fir, cedar and larch.
Lady Blessington’s Bath is a lovely spot beside the River Suir. The towpath can be followed in either direction as part of the East Munster Way.
Heather Crest Garden is an award-winning half-acre ornamental garden, in a rural setting, containing heathers, conifers, shrubs and herbaceous borders, pool and rockery, and a Japanese garden with wonderful views of nearby Slievenamon. The owner, Helen O’Brien, is the sole gardener.
Clonmel is not far from on ByRoute 3 and on ByRoute 4
East of Clonmel
Tickencor House, about 2 miles east of Clonmel, is a mansion built in the Tudor style, with quadrangular windows divided by stone mullions. It was probably built by Alexander Power in the reign of King James I.
Bulmers cider, known as Magners outside of Ireland, is brewed in a complex 3km east of the town, and the extensive orchards serving the brewery can be seen when approaching from the east.
Powerstown Park Racecourse holds regular meetings throughout the year.
The Wilderness Gorge is an area of great natural beauty and considerable interest to botanists, ornithologists and lepidopterists as it contains rare plants and over 32 species of birds, while approx. sixty percent of the species of butterflies in Ireland have been recorded here.
Kilsheelin has a bridge spanning the River Suir, connecting the equally scenic riverside routes that run between Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel.
Gurteen Le Paor a large Baronial house built in 1866 by Samuel Roberts for Edmund, 18th Baron le Poer and Curaghmore to replace an earlier house which itself replaced an even earlier building, is set on 16 acres overlooking the River Suir.
Restored by its current owner, Austrian artist Gottfried Heinwein, it was the scene in 2004 of the spectacular wedding between rock star Marilyn Manson and stripper Dita von Teese, attended by Keanu Reeves, Lisa Marie Presley, David Lynch and Ozzy Osbourne. The happy couple have since divorced.
Seskin House is a beautiful old house that provides good B&B facilities.
Kilsheelin is linked to Fethard on ByRoute 4 by a road that passes close to Slievenamon / Sliabh na mBan.
South of Clonmel
Careys Castle / Glenabbey House, located 3.5km from Clonmel off the Dungarvan Road, is set in beautiful woodlands, formerly the property of the Waterford Benedictines and occupied by French members of the Order called the Friars of Zervoix.
Kilmacomma (Shanabhaile), and Glenary, two deserted villages nearby, were inhabited until the 1960s and some ruins remain.
The Dungarvan Road
West of Clonmel
St Patrick’s Well is an old religious site situated in a sheltered glen where a large volume of spring water continuously wells up from underground. The church dates from the C17th, but there are traces of an even older building. Inside the walls is the tomb of Nicholas White of Clonmel who died in 1622. At the centre of the small lake is a very ancient and badly weathered High Cross. To enter the site visitors must descend a long flight of stone steps.
Marlfield Lake & Wild Bird Sanctuary is a man made lake developed from a swamp. The site was always a place for wildfowl, such as the common coot, waterhen, mallard, widgeon, pochard and teal, and since its designation as a wildfowl conservancy has become a recognised breeding ground for several other species of birds
Knocklofty House, long the seat of the Earls of Donoughmore, is a magnificent mansion dating from the C17th with subsequent additions. Internally, the house embodies the best of Irish Georgian decorative architecture; the Library is particularly impressive, with a wrought iron balustrade protecting an upper gallery on three sides and a beautiful ceiling. The House is set in over 100 acres of sweeping parkland and has wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.
Finally sold by the Hely-Hutchinson family in the 1970s, the Knocklofty Country House Hotel and Leisure Centre has received distinctly mixed reviews regarding both its accommodation and the food served in its restaurant.
