Old Saint Mary’s is an 800-year-old fortified church in Clonmel

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, known locally as Old Saint Mary’s, is the oldest church in Clonmel, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

On this week’s stopover in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, on the second phase of this year’s ‘Road Trip,’ I visited two of the landmark churches in the centre of the town – Old Saint Mary’s Church, which is the Church of Ireland parish church in the town centre, and the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the towering Roman Catholic church in the town centre.

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, known locally as Old Saint Mary’s, is the oldest church in Clonmel and dates from ca 1204.

Saint Mary’s is part of the Clonmel Union of Parishes, with Canon Barbara Fryday as the rector. The union of parishes is based on Clonmel, but covers an area that includes Slievenamon and reaches to the Knockmealdown Mountains and the Nire Valley in the Comeragh Mountains.

These parishes reach from New Inn on the Dublin/Cork road to Kilbehenny, 7 km miles north of Mitchelstown, Co Cork. From east to west, it stretches from Kilsheelan to Cahir, Co Tipperary, and the River Suir divides the northern and southern reaches of the parish.

Saint Mary’s is believed to have been built by William de Burgo in 1204. It is the first building in the town to be referred to in documents, appearing in a letter dated August 1228.

The entire 13th century structure has now disappeared overground, although the remains of an armoured knight from that period were found in a vault under the south aisle in 1832.

A fortified church was built on the site later, and the church I saw this week took shape as a fortified church in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Although the tower house at the today’s vestry was destroyed during Cromwell’s attack on Clonmel, the rest of the Church escaped unscathed.

The main features of Saint Mary’s include a 27 ft square, 84 ft high octagonal bell tower, the eastern tower house, and the ornate 16th century east and west windows. Major renovations were undertaken on the church in 1805. Later additions were made in 1857 and 1864, and the later reconstruction is attributed to the church architect John Welland.

At one time, the tower had a wooden spire and belfry, but these were not been restored.

The church today incorporates much of the fabric of the mediaeval church. It has a six-bay nave with side aisles, a lower single-bay chancel with lower lean-to additions on the north side, a two-storey tower house attached to east, two-bay transept on the north side, and an octagonal four stage tower at the south wall of nave.

The churchyard at Old Saint Mary’s is bounded by surviving parts of the mediaeval town wall with towers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The surrounding churchyard is bounded on north and west sides by surviving parts of the mediaeval town wall with towers.

There are few early graves in the churchyard, and the oldest headstone that is readable, marking the grave of a Jesuit, Nicholas Leynagh, dates from 1625. There follows a gap until 1700, but from then on, the dates on the headstones are regularly spaced. The most recent burial was in 1958, in an existing grave, originally opened in 1855.

One sad story associated with the graves is that of Fredeick Close, a lieutenant in the 86th Foot. He fell in love with a local Quaker, Anna Grubb, in 1826, but because of his military profession her family disapproved of the match.

On the evening of 26 February 1826, Anna and Frederick arranged to meet by the Gashouse Bridge for a stroll along the banks of the River Suir. They were never again seen alive, and at first people thought they had eloped. However, those ideas were dispelled when their bodies were recovered from the river a month later.

Anna Grubb is buried in an unmarked grave in Friends’ Burial Ground in O’Neill Street; Frederick Close is buried in Old Saint Mary’s churchyard.

Old Saint Mary’s is believed to have been built by William de Burgo in 1204 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Two landmark buildings in Clonmel bookend each end of O’Connell Street

The Main Guard, Clonmel … built as the Palatinate Court of the Dukes of Ormond (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

On the way from Cork to Kilkenny, the second phase of this year’s ‘Road Trip’ brought us to Clonmel in south Co Tipperary. The town grew significantly in mediaeval times, and there are many reminders of the middle ages throughout the streets of Clonmel. A small section of the town walls can still be seen at Old Saint Mary’s Church, which dates from the 14th century or earlier.

We arrived into Clonmel through the mediaeval walls at the West Gate, a 19th-century reconstruction of an older building. Originally, there were three gates in the walled town – north, east and west – while the south was protected by the River Suir and the Comeragh Mountains. The area to the west of the town is known as Irishtown.

Two of us stopped for lunch in O’Connell Street, the main street in Clonmel, which is bookended by two prominent, landmark buildings: the West Gate at the west end and the Main Guard at the east end.

The West Gate is an open arched entrance onto O’Connell Street, and the current structure dates from 1831, when it was built by a merchant named Joyce. This is a Tudor Revival style structure and is an imposing feature, dividing the vistas from O’Connell Street and Irishtown.

The West Gate fell into disrepair in the 20th century, prompting local concerns for its restoration. It was re-roofed, the arches were re-enforced with steel beams and the floors were stabilised with steel. Notable features include the crenellations, turret and label-mouldings.

The gate also displays a limestone plaque commemorating Clonmel born author Lawrence Stern, sculpted by Frances Dietrich in 1975.

The West Gate, Clonmel … built in 1831 at the site of one of three town gates (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

At the east end of O’Connell Street, the Main Guard is the former courthouse in Clonmel. It was here that the ‘main guard’ of the troops in Clonmel were once stationed.

During the Siege of Clonmel in 1650, the old Manor Court was destroyed. After the restoration of the Palatinate rights of James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, in Co Tipperary in 1662, he ordered the building of a new courthouse.

This fine, two-storey, symmetrical building, incorporating some elements from works by Sir Christopher Wren, was completed in 1674. The building also included private apartments, a dining room and drawing room. These were used to entertain King James II in Clonmel in 1689. The building was also used as a ‘tholsel’ for gathering tolls, duties or customs.

The Palatinate jurisdiction of the Dukes of Ormond in Co Tipperary was extinguished in 1715. After that, the building was used by the Clonmel Assizes, and it was there that Father Nicholas Sheehy, the anti-Penal Laws agitator, was tried in 1766. He was hanged, drawn and quartered.

When the new courthouse was built in 1810, all trials were moved from the Main Guard and the building became a barracks. Pigot’s Commercial Dictionary noted in 1820 that the building ‘is devoted to the use of the soldiery, possesses a good clock, is known by the name of the Main Guard and stands at the entrance into Main Street,’ now O’Connell Street.

The ground floor loggia or arcade of open arches was converted into shops around then, the basement was excavated and additional floors were inserted, so that the former courthouse became a market house. For a number of years, the arches were hidden, as Samuel Lewis noted in 1837, ‘The ground floor has some years since been converted to shops.’

The Office of Public Works began an award-winning restoration in the 1990s, and the open arcade of sandstone columns and five semi-circular arches is once again an attractive feature of the streetscape.

Today, the Main Guard is a five-bay two-storey building, with an arcaded ground floor and with classical elements, such as the pediment. The columns were recycled from the ruins of Inislounaght Abbey. The building has a handsome clock and bell tower, and the west wall displays the coats of arms of the Borough of Clonmel and of the Ormond Butlers, both bearing the date 1675.

The Main Guard is closed at present, but is normally open to visitors from March to late October.

The Main Guard has an open arcade of sandstone columns (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)