Clonmel (Cluain Meala, "Honey Meadow"), county town of Tipperary county, lies near the Irish south coast on the north bank of the River Suir. To the south of the town are the Comeragh Mountains.
The town of Clonmel is a market town, with some industry (principally cider production), the center of a horse- and dog-breeding area. Laurence Sterne, author of "Tristram Shandy," was born in Clonmel in 1713.
In 1815 the first regular passenger transport service between two Irish towns was established in Clonmel. An Italian immigrant named Charles Bianconi, a picture framer by trade, who had risen to prosperity and become mayor of the town, started a service of horse-drawn vehicles ("Bianconi cars") between Clonmel and Cahir which later extended over the whole of southern Ireland.
Along with Slievenamon, northeast of Clonmel, the Comeragh Mountains (highest peak Knockamaffrin, 2,439ft/743m), south of the town, offer ample scope for climbers and hill-walkers.
5mi/8km north of Clonmel, on a side road off the R688, Donaghmore has a ruined Romanesque church (National Monument) with a fine doorway and chancel arch.
Along the banks of the Suir to the east of Clonmel are a number of ruined castles and churches. 2.5mi/4km from the town, on the north bank of the river, is Anner House, with the Falconry, which has a collection of birds of prey (demonstrations of falconry).
4.5mi/7km beyond Donaghmore Church near Clonmel is the old world little town of Fethard. The Protestant parish church incorporates part of an earlier 15th C. building, while the Roman Catholic church, at the east end of the town, preserves enough of the substance of an old Augustinian church to give something of the impression of the original. Part of the old town walls still survive.
At the opposite end of O'Connell Street from the Westgate in Clonmel is the Main Guard, said to have been designed by Christopher Wren, but more probably the work of Sir William Robinson, with the coats of arms of Clonmel and the Earls of Ormond, whose courts were held here.
Address: Main Guard, Sarsfield Street, Clonmel , Ireland
Beyond the Town Hall in Clonmel's Parnell Street are the Court House (1800) and, obliquely opposite this, the Municipal Library, which also houses the Clonmel Museum and Art Gallery.
St Mary's Church (Protestant; National Monument), with an octagonal tower, stands on the site of an earlier 14th C. church; its most recent reconstruction was in 1857. Notable features are the tracery of the east window and a number of 16th and 17th C. monuments. Adjoining the church are the remains of the old town walls, with three towers.
Address: St Mary's Church, Mary Street, Clonmel , Ireland
In Clonmel's Parnell Street stands the Town Hall, where the civic insignia are kept. Beyond this are the Court House (1800) and, obliquely opposite this, the municipal library.
Westgate, which closes the west end of O'Connell Street in Clonmel, occupies the site of a medieval town gate. Outside it in Irishtown is the Roman Catholic Church, with a neo-Classical facade and a good plasterwork ceiling.
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Donaghmore, Ireland
