Gaelcholáiste Chéitinn

Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Drogheda and Wexford. With the exception of the townland of Suir Island, most of the borough is situated in the civil parish of "St Mary's" which is part of the ancient barony of Iffa and Offa East.

Etymology

The name Clonmel is derived from the anglicisation of the Irish name ''Cluain Meala'' meaning "honey meadow" or "honey valley". While it is not clearly known when it got this name, some sources suggest that it is associated with the fertility of the soil and the "richness of the country" in which it is located.

History

Town walls

Clonmel grew significantly in medieval times and was protected by town walls. A small section of the town walls remains in place near Old St. Mary's Church. This church was originally built in the 14th century or earlier but has been reconstructed or renovated on numerous occasions. It was fortified early in its history, the town being strategically important, initially for the Earls of Ormonde, and later the Earl of Kildare. Some fortified parts of the church were destroyed or damaged during the mid-17th century Cromwellian occupation.

One of the former entry points into the town is now the site of the West Gate, a 19th-century reconstruction of an older structure. There were originally three gates in the walled town, North, East and West – with the South being protected by the river Suir and the Comeragh Mountains. The West Gate is now an open arched entrance onto O'Connell Street, the main street of the town.

Elizabethan era

On 17 September 1583, while a fugitive during the last stages of the Second Desmond Rebellion, Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh, chaplain and confessor to the Rebel Earl of Desmond, was taken prisoner upon Sliabh Luachra and taken to Clonmel for imprisonment, while he continued his priestly ministry to the best of his ability.

According to historian James Coombes, "Here, as in other southern towns, Counter-Reformation Catholicism was already beginning to make a real impact; and, as in these other towns, the citizens of Clonmel were beginning to come up against the problem of combining loyalty to the Pope with loyalty to the Queen. Maurice MacKenraghty continued his ministry during what proved to be a long imprisonment".

In April 1585, his jailer was bribed by Victor White, a leading townsman, to release the priest for one night to say Mass and administer Communion in White's houseKinrechtan (MacKenraghty), Maurice
Dictionary of Irish Biography on Easter Sunday (11 April 1585). Permission was granted, and Fr. MacKenraghty spent the whole night hearing Confessions.

The jailer, however, had secretly tipped off the President of Munster Sir John Norris, who had just arrived at Clonmel. According to historian James Coombes, "Norris arranged to have White's house surrounded by soldiers and raided. The raiding party entered it shortly before Mass was due to begin and naturally caused great panic. Some people tried to hide in the basement; others jumped through the windows; one woman broke her arm in an attempt to escape. The priest hid in a heap of straw and was wounded in the thigh by the probing sword of a soldier. Despite the pain, he remained silent and later escaped. The soldiers dismantled the altar and seized the sacred vessels".

According to historian Judy Barry, Fr. Mac Ionrachtaigh, "surrendered himself when he learned that White would otherwise be executed in his place. He refused to take the oath of supremacy and was condemned to death. On 30 April 1585 he was tied to the tail of a horse and taken to the market place, where he was partially hanged. Accounts differ as to whether his executioners were persuaded to behead him without quartering his body. At all events, after his remains had been exhibited for some days on the market cross, they were handed over to local Catholics for honourable burial".

According to historian James Coombes, the former location of Victor White's house near Lough Street in Clonmel continued to be nicknamed "Martyr Lane" until well into Cromwellian times. Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh was beatified by Pope John Paul II, along with 16 other Irish Catholic Martyrs, on 27 September 1992.

Corporation regalia

Under a charter granted by James I of England, Clonmel became a Free Borough on 5 July 1608, and the Mayor and officers of the town were granted the power to "name, elect and constitute one Swordbearer and three Sergeants-at-Mace". The present sword and two silver maces date only from Cromwellian times. The sword, of Toledo manufacture, was donated by Sir Thomas Stanley in 1656 and displays the arms and motto of the town. The larger mace is stamped 1663.

Cromwellian period

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 the New Model Army when they tried to storm the breach. That night, O'Neill, deciding that further resistance was hopeless due to a lack of ammunition, led his soldiers and camp followers out of the town under cover of darkness. The story is told that Cromwell became suspicious of O'Neill's desperate situation when a silver bullet was discharged by the townspeople at his troops outside the walls. The following morning, 18 May 1650, mayor John White was able to surrender the town on good terms as Cromwell was still unaware of the garrison's escape just hours before. Although feeling deceived, Cromwell did not put the inhabitants 'to the sword' as occurred elsewhere.

After being denounced by three men who desired the £5 bounty and arrested at Fethard while vested for Mass on Holy Saturday, 25 March 1654, Augustinian Friar William Tirry was taken to Clonmel Gaol (on the future site of the Clonmel Borstal) and held there pending trial. On 26 April, he was tried by a jury and Commonwealth judges, including Colonel Solomon Richards, for violating the Proclamation of 6 January 1653, which defined it as high treason for priests to remain in Ireland. In his own defense, Fr. Tirry replied that while he viewed the Commonwealth as the lawful Government, he had no choice but to disobey its laws, as the Pope had ordered him to remain in Ireland. Fr. Tirry was according found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, which was carried out in Clonmel on 2 May 1654.

An account told by Franciscan Friar Matthew Fogarty, who had been tried with Friar William Tirry, supplies further details: "William, wearing his Augustinian habit, was led to the gallows praying the rosary. He blessed the crowd which had gathered, pardoned his betrayers and affirmed his faith. It was a moving moment for Catholics and Protestants alike."

Despite the efforts of a Puritan minister to silence him, Fr. Tirry told the assembled crowd, "there is only one true Church, whose head is the pope: Pope and Church are to be obeyed. He publicly forgave the three men who had betrayed him, and... stated explicitly that he had been offered life and favour, it would renounce his religion." Fr. Tirry was then hanged, after which he was buried, with some ceremony, in the ruins of the Augustinian friary in nearby Fethard. The evidence is that he was buried in the grounds, rather than inside the ruins of the church, but it has not yet been possible to locate his grave. Fr. William Tirry was beatified by Pope John Paul II along with 16 other Irish Catholic Martyrs on 27 September 1993. The Augustinian order celebrates his feast day on 12 May.

18th century

During the second half of the 18th century, the ''Sean-nós'' song ''Príosún Chluain Meala'' was composed inside Clonmel Gaol by one O'Donnell, a member of the Whiteboys originally from Iveragh, County Kerry, who was being held awaiting execution by hanging upon the following Friday. According to Donal O'Sullivan, O'Donnell had two companions awaiting the rope with him and that their heads were posthumously severed from their bodies and displayed spiked upon the prison gates. "The Gaol of Cluain Meala", an English translation of the lyrics, was made by County Cork poet Jeremiah Joseph Callanan (1795–1829).

19th century

A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of Kickham Barracks in 1805. During an 1807 visit to Ireland on behalf of the London Hibernian Society, Welsh nonconformist minister Thomas Charles alleged ruefully that the Reformation in Ireland had failed because of the refusal of Protestant clergy to preach or educate in the local vernacular. Of his visit to Clonmel, Rev. Charles recalled, "All the county spoke Irish... they spoke Irish in the streets."

Following the failed attempt at rebellion near Ballingarry in 1848, the captured leaders of the Young Irelanders were brought to Clonmel for trial. The event was followed with great interest internationally and for its duration brought journalists from around the country and Britain to Clonmel Courthouse. Standing in the dock in the image opposite is Thomas Francis Meagher, Terence MacManus and Patrick O'Donoghue. Their co-defendant, William Smith O'Brien was also sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, the last occasions such a sentence was handed down in Ireland. When delivering the guilty verdict, the foreman of the Grand Jury, R.M. Southcote Mansergh, great-grandfather of the academic Nicholas Mansergh stated:

We earnestly recommend the prisoner to the merciful consideration of the Government, being unanimously of opinion that for many reasons his life should be spared.

The sentences of O'Brien and other members of the Irish Confederation were eventually commuted to transportation for life to Van Diemen's Land. A conspiracy to rescue the prisoners on 8 November led by John O'Leary and Philip Gray was betrayed and resulted in the arrest at 'The Wilderness' of seventeen armed rebels led by Gray.

20th and 21st centuries

Clonmel was the location of the foundation of the Labour Party in 1912 by James Connolly, James Larkin and William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress.

In November 2015, the town was the location of Ireland's first marriage between two men.

Administration and politics

Clonmel was one of ten boroughs retained by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. The borough corporation elected 12 councillors. The first mayor of Clonmel Borough in 1843 was John Hackett. Clonmel Town Hall was opened in 1882.

Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, the area became an urban district, while its body retained the style of a borough corporation. The borough corporation became a borough council in 2002. On 1 June 2014, the borough council was dissolved and administration of the town was amalgamated into Tipperary County Council. Pat English was the last Mayor of Clonmel Borough Council.

Clonmel retains the right to be described as a borough. The chair of the borough district uses the title of mayor, rather than Cathaoirleach. As of the 2019 Tipperary County Council election, the local electoral area of Clonmel elected 6 councillors.

As of 2024, Clonmel is within Dáil constituency of Tipperary South which elects three TDs to Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament).

Geography

The town is built in the valley of the River Suir. It divides the town which is mainly located on the north bank. To the south, the town is surrounded by the Comeragh Mountains and Slievenamon to the northeast. To the north, east and west is some of Ireland's richest farmland, known as the Golden Vale. The town covers a land area of approximately 11.59 km².

Climate

Flood defences

The River Suir floods the local area after very heavy rainfalls in the up-river catchment area of 2,173 km². The Office of Public Works (OPW) completed and installed a Flood Forecasting System which has been used since 2007. The flood of 2015 had a flow of 390m³/s, 2004 had a flow of 354m³/s with the flood of 2000 having a flow of 353m³/s. The 2015 flood was the worst since that of 1946, which had seen a flow of 479m³/s. Phase 1 of the Clonmel Flood Defence (planned to cope with a 100-year flood) started in 2007. It was scheduled to be completed by late 2009. Phases two and three were completed by 2012. Property omitted from Phase 1 along the Convent Road were protected in 2014 and the access to the river for the workmen's boat club was also raised.
Flooding of October 2014 was less than a 1–5 flood with a flow of 300m³/s. As part of a media exercise by the OPW the barriers were all put up.

The flood defence consists of demountable barriers, walls and earth banks. Flooding occurred at the Gashouse Bridge, Coleville Road, Davis Road, the Quays and the Old Bridge area before the flood defences.

Demographics

The 2016 census used a new boundary created by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to define the town of Clonmel and environs, resulting in a population figure of 17,140. The 2022 census (undertaken on 3 April 2022) determined that Clonmel had a population of 18,369, making it the 27th largest urban area in Ireland. The population was about 12,400 in 1985.

Economy

Retail

Clonmel's main shopping streets include Gladstone Street, O'Connell Street, Mitchell Street and Market Place. Retailers in this area include Elverys Sports, Penneys, River Island, Easons and Lifestyle Sports.

The Showgrounds Shopping Centre, built during the Celtic Tiger on the town's original showground, is approximately 1 km from the town centre. This shopping centre has retailers such as M&S and TKMaxx.

The Poppyfield Retail Park is located on the outskirts of the town. Developed in 2004, it has stores such as DID Electrical, Supervalu, Maxi Zoo, Woodie's and World of Wonder. There is also a hotel on the site.

Industry

Clonmel is home to several multi-national companies, including in the medical area. The two biggest medical companies in the town are Abbott and Boston Scientific, both of which manufacture implantable devices.

Several beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are produced in the town. Bulmers cider, also known as Magners outside Ireland, was founded in the town and is still brewed in a complex east of the town with orchards surrounding it. The original brewery in the town is set to become a new visitor attraction. Glenpatrick Spring Water bottles still, carbonated and flavoured water from the limestone rocks beneath Slievenamon for a number of supermarket chains.

Clonmel is home to international engineering and construction groups such as Kentz and Sepam which were both founded in the town. Sepam has been involved in several large infrastructure projects around the world such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, Disneyland Shanghai and some of the terminals at Heathrow Airport.

Media

Radio

Tipp FM is a local radio station for the county of Tipperary. It has its main office in Clonmel. In 2019, Tippfm had over 69,000 listeners tuning in every week, representing a market share to 35%. It broadcasts on FM, on 95.3, 97.1, 103.3 and 103.9. The Clonmel transmitter broadcasts on 97.1 MHz.

Print

Clonmel is home to several newspapers. These include '' The Nationalist'', founded in 1890, which is a broadsheet newspaper that appears weekly. It covers both Clonmel town and South Tipperary and was formed to represent the views of the nationalist community in Tipperary. This led to the first editor being jailed under the Coercion Act on charges that he had intimidated a cattle dealer for taking a farm from which tenants had been evicted. It has been run by Johnston Press since 2014.

Also owned by Johnston Press is ''South Tipp Today'', a free tabloid newspaper founded in 1995. It is delivered door-to-door in some areas, and available in local shops across South Tipperary.

''The Sporting Press'', also published and printed in Clonmel, covers news related to the greyhound community in Ireland. As of 2007, it had a circulation of approximately 7,500.

The '' Tipperary Free Press'' was established in 1826 by the future first Catholic Lord Mayor of Clonmel, John Hackett. It had a circulation of 45,650 in 1829 and supported "liberal" causes. It supported Daniel O'Connell's movement for Catholic emancipation. Hackett was sued for libel on several occasions for his caricatures of political rivals. Printed on O'Connell Street bi-weekly, it circulated in counties Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, Cork and Limerick. In its later years, it assumed a Catholic-Whig political leaning and ceased printing in 1880 when it was replaced by the ''Tipperary Independent'' (1880–1892).

Culture

Museums and galleries

The Tipperary Museum of Hidden History tells the history of County Tipperary from the Stone Age to the present. It is also host to several special exhibitions each year. It was the first custom-built county museum in Ireland.

The Main Guard was a civic building until 1810 when it was converted to shops. During a one restoration, some of its sandstone columns were found to have been 'reclaimed' from the Medieval ruins of the Cistercian Inislounaght Abbey at Marlfield. It was used in the past as a Tholsel or office to collect tolls, duties and customs dues, a place for civic gatherings and as a court. It now houses an exhibition showing the historic development of Clonmel, including a model of the town as it appeared in the 13th century.

The South Tipperary Arts Centre opened in 1996. As well as presenting a range of visual arts exhibitions in the main gallery space, the centre also host events such as music, performance, art classes, poetry readings and dance. The centre has an upstairs studio which is used for short term exhibitions and screenings, as well as for a variety of classes and workshops.

Theatre and cinema

The White Memorial Theatre building is a former Wesleyan/Methodist Chapel and was designed and built by local architect William Tinsley in 1843. The building was purchased in 1975 by St. Mary's Choral Society and named after society founder Professor James A White. In addition to hosting performances, the building hosts shows by the Stage Craft Youth Theatre group.

Clonmel's Stagecraft Youth Theatre was founded in 1998. It provides training for young actors in several aspects of theatre practice. Stagecraft is one of Ireland's largest youth theatres and is affiliated with NAYD. In 2011, a 45-seat studio theatre, known as "The Hub", was opened in Albert Street. The Hub is home to Stagecraft.

The IMC, with five screens and located on Kickham Street, is the town's only remaining cinema. Other cinemas formerly operated in the town including the Ritz, which opened in 1940 and was located on the site of the present Credit Union. The first cinema in the town opened in January 1913 as the Clonmel Cinema Theatre. Later renamed the Clonmel Electric Picture Palace, it was located at the rear of No. 35 Gladstone Street. It was soon followed by John Magner's Theatre at the Mall, which burned to the ground in 1919, to be re-built in 1921 with an increased capacity of over a thousand seats. It was eventually named the Regal Theatre and remodelled as an 850-seat theatre, which finally closed in 2001. It was in the Regal Theatre where the tenor Frank Patterson made his stage debut. The Oisin, in O'Connell Street, was of a similar scale and was also built in 1921. It was destroyed in a fire in 1965.

Festivals

For nine days from the first weekend of July, the town hosts the annual Clonmel Junction Festival. It consists of a mix of street theatre, rock, traditional and world music. Children from local schools and community groups have previously been invited to participate with support from local artists.

"Finding a Voice" is a festival that is held around International Women's Day, 8 March. It presents performances of music by female composers.

The town is home to the International Film Festival Ireland, which focuses on independent films. Its inaugural event was during September 2009 and ran for five days. It subsequently became an annual event, occurring every September. The 2010 event expanded to include a Youth Film Festival, that showcased locally made short films.

Clonmel's busking festival runs for four days every August. It provides free music events during the day in the town centre, while at night a number of concerts take place in venues throughout the town.

Music

''Banna Chluain Meala'' (translating as 'Clonmel band') was founded in 1971. Originally a brass band, it later developed as a brass and reed band, which included concert, marching and field show performances. The band also has a colour guard section. The band has been crowned IMBA (Irish Marching Bands Association) champions on a number of occasions.

Clonmel has hosted the Irish traditional music festival, the Fleadh Cheoil

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases