Marlfield ( Gaeilge:''Gort an Mharla'') is a village three kilometres west of

Clonmel 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 townla ...

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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. It is within the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

s of Marlfield and Inishlounaght. It replaced an older settlement named Abbey, which had developed near the 12th century

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

community of

Inislounaght Abbey Inislounaght Abbey (Irish: ''Mainistir Inis Leamhnachta'' - "monastery on the island of fresh milk"), also referred to as ''Innislounaght'', ''Inislounacht'' and ''De Surio'', was a 12th-century Cistercian settlement on the river Suir, near Clo ...

Local industry

Marlfield developed as a minor regional industrial centre using water from a tributary of the river Suir as a source of power. In 1773-74, Stephen Moore's was the largest grain mill in the country, processing 15,382 cwt in its 'boulting mill' that year. The lake was artificially constructed to run mill machinery, eventually powering hydroelectric current for the 'Big House'. There were several grain and rapeseed mills near the lake which were superseded by a substantial distillery. Andrew Stein's Pot still at Marlfield was producing 8, 268 Imperial gallons of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

per week in 1818. It was eventually taken over by Jamesons before it too was closed. In 1886, Marlfield Embroideries was established by Mrs. Bagwell to give employment to local women and girls. Marlfield was for many generations the seat of the Bagwell family, who owned much of the land and other resources in the area. The terrace of houses and nearby school, which formed the core of the village, were built for the estate workers.

Marlfield/Abbey during the famine

In 1837, ten years before the height of the famine, Marlfield was recorded as having a population of 1,123 inhabitants, many of whom were employed at John Stein's distillery. Like much of the rest of rural Ireland, the poor of Marlfield suffered greatly during the Great famine. While there were local acts of philanthropy to help alleviate starvation, there were documented cases where food convoys and barges transporting flour and grain were attacked by desperate residents. These incidents of 'lawlessness' were viewed with little sympathy by local establishment figures.

Sport

The village is home to Marlfield GAA club, which promotes

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

in the area. In 2009 Marlfield was the start and finish points for the 'Bill Hyland Memorial' cycle race. This is a road event organised annually by the Clonmel Cycle Club.

People associated with Marlfield

* John Philip Bagwell (1874–1946) General manager of the Great Northern Railway, MP and

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

Senator. *

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 ...

(1840–1918) Historian and Unionist MP. * Theo English (1931 - 2021) Retired Sportsperson, played

with Marlfield and the Tipperary team.

Points of local interest

* Marlfield House. Burned by anti-Treaty Republicans in January, 1923, and subsequently rebuilt. *St. Patrick's Church. *Marlfield Lake. Artificial reservoir fed by springs at St. Patrick's Well, it was used to supply power to local mills. It is now a wildlife sanctuary and public amenity. *St. Patrick's Wel

*Sandybanks. Formerly a favourite swimming area on the Suir. During summer holidays, large crowds from Clonmel made their way here to swim before the provision of the town's first indoor pool in 1973. *Memorial to local soldiers who died in the World War I, 1914-18 warbr>

Gallery

File:Marlfield House, Clonmel.jpg, Marlfield House, Clonmel, Marlfield house, formerly the seat of the Bagwell dynasty. File:Elevation, St. Patrick's church, Marlfield, Clonmel. June 2010.jpg, View of St. Patrick's church from the village. File:Bird sanctuary, Marlfield Lake, Clonmel. June 2010.jpg, Marlfield lake, a wildlife sanctuary. File:Cross and church at St. Patrick's Well, Marlfield. June 2010.jpg, View of nearby St, Patrick's well.

References

External links

Tidy Towns Competition 2004; Marlfield Report.
{{County Tipperary Towns and villages in County Tipperary