Around Our Town Ep. 44 – Famine Evictions in Tipperary One of the most emotive aspect of the Great Irish Famine is eviction. The image of an emaciated family hopelessly standing aside as their cottage is demolished endures to this today. Dr Ciarán Reilly of Maynooth University estimates that over 250,000 people were made homeless...Read More

Pigot’s Commercial Directory of Ireland (1824) describes Clonmel’s Corn Market as being as extensive as any in the Kingdom. It claims that one fifth of all flour exported from Ireland emanated from one establishment in Clonmel alone. By 1832, Clonmel was the dominant force in milling nationally and was exporting a quarter a million hundredweight...Read More

Around Our Town Ep. 42 – Lord Lieutenant of Ireland visits Clonmel For four days in August 1865 the attention of the nation was firmly fixed on Clonmel. This was because Queen Victoria’s highest ranking official in Ireland was visiting the town. John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberly, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and his...Read More

The Tipperary Banking Collapse of 1856 On Sunday morning the 17th of February 1856 the body of man was discovered on Hamstead Heath in London. The body was that John Sadleir Esq. MP, a native of Shronell, Co. Tipperary. It would later be confirmed that Sadleir had committed suicide by drinking a phial of prussic...Read More

Around Our Town Ep. 40 – Escape from Clonmel Jail On Saturday the 21st of September 1867 the Clonmel Chronicle reported news of a daring escape from Clonmel Jail. The escapee was the prominent Fenian Captain Lawrence O’Brien and the discovery of his empty cell on the previous morning sparked a countywide manhunt. O’Brien had...Read More

Around Our Town Ep. 39 – Darby Brahan: The most feared man in Clonmel The name of Darby Brahan may not be familiar to the people of Clonmel today but in the mid 18th century he was quite possibly the most feared man in south Tipperary. If indeed you had the misfortune of coming face...Read More

Around Our Town Ep. 38 – Attempted Abduction at Rathronan On Sunday the 2nd of July 1854 the church at Rathronan was the scene of an outrageous incident that would be talked about by the people of Tipperary for years to come. It was here John Rutter Carden attempted to abduct Eleanor Louisa Arbuthnot. Carden...Read More

The townland of Glendaloughin straddles the Comeragh mountains north of Clonmel overlooking the beautiful Nire valley. It falls within the bounds of county Waterford but is part of the civil parish of Saint Mary’s, Clonmel. It is a picturesque and serene place but 116 years ago it was at the centre of a bitter dispute...Read More

Our final stop on the Coleville Road is Greenpark (at times known as Greenville). This completes our look at the protected structures along the Coleville Road. Following the construction of the Gashouse Bridge in the 1820s the Coleville Road quickly became one of Clonmel’s desirable suburbs. Some the town’s wealthiest merchants and professionals bought and...Read More

Fairy Hill House is situated half way down the Coleville road on the riverside. It is in fact two houses. The larger and older structure was original named Springfield House. It is clearly identified in both the first and second edition of the ordnance survey maps of Ireland. This puts its date of construction at...Read More