Clonmel Town Hall ( ga, Halla Baile Chluain Meala) is a municipal building in Parnell Street,

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, Ireland. The building accommodated the offices of Clonmel Borough Council until 2014.

History

In the 1870s, Clonmel Corporation decided to commission a town hall. The site they selected was occupied by a 17th century house, commissioned by a timber merchant, Richard Hamerton, which was known as Hamerton Hall, before it was converted into a public house known as the Great Globe Inn in around 1850. The corporation acquired the site and demolished the house in 1878. The new building was designed in the Dutch Renaissance style, built in brick with a cement render finish at a cost of £6,000, and was officially opened by the mayor, Edward Cantwell, on 4 January 1882. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Parnell Street. The central bay featured a square-headed doorway flanked by

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s supporting a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

bearing the borough

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

and a segmental

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. On the first floor there was a tall round headed window with an

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

and a keystone flanked by paired pilasters supporting a cornice, a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

and a

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. The other bays were fenestrated by square headed

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

s with architraves on the ground floor, and by square headed casement windows with architraves and window sills on the first floor. At attic level, the outer bays were fenestrated by

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

windows surmounted by gables and finials. A monument, sculpted by Joseph Kevin Bracken, intended to commemorate the lives of local people who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, was unveiled outside the town hall in 1904. The building became an important venue for public events. A commissioner for education,

Richard Bagwell Richard Bagwell (9 December 1840 – 4 December 1918) was a noted historian of the Stuart and Tudor periods in Ireland, and a political commentator with strong Unionist convictions. He was the eldest son of John Bagwell, M.P. for Clonmel from ...

, founded the Borstal Association of Ireland and became its first president, at a meeting in the town hall in May 1906. Also, the Labour Party was founded by James Connolly,

James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...

and

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress at a meeting in the town hall on 28 May 1912. The building was extended to the southwest by O'Gorman Construction to a design by S. O. P. O'Ceallachain of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in 1993. The building ceased to be the local seat of government in 2014, when the council was dissolved and administration of the town was amalgamated with

Tipperary County Council Tipperary County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Thiobraid Árann) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It came into operation on 3 June ...

in accordance with the

Local Government Reform Act 2014 The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, ...

. A further programme of refurbishment works was initiated in €60,000 was initiated in March 2022. A reception was held in the town hall on 18 June 2022 to launch the 21st

World Masters Mountain Running Championships The World Masters Mountain Running Championships is an international mountain running competition contested by athletes of the members of WMRA, World Mountain Running Association, the sport's global governing body. The first edition was held in 200 ...

, which took place in the town on 3 September 2022.

References

{{City and town halls in Ireland, state=collapsed Government buildings completed in 1882 City and town halls in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Clonmel