Clonmel Town Hall

Clonmel Town Hall
Halla Baile Chluain Meala
Clonmel Town Hall
Clonmel Town Hall Location within Ireland
General information
Architectural style	Dutch Renaissance style
Address	Parnell Street
Town or city	Clonmel
Country	Ireland
Coordinates	52°21′12″N7°41′57″W / 52.3533°N 7.6993°W / 52.3533; -7.6993
Completed	1882

Clonmel Town Hall (Irish : Halla Baile Chluain Meala) is a municipal building in Parnell Street, Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. The building accommodated the offices of Clonmel Borough Council until 2014.

History

In the 1870s, Clonmel Corporation decided to commission a town hall. The site they selected was occupied by a 17th century house, commissioned by a timber merchant, Richard Hamerton, which was known as Hamerton Hall, before it was converted into a public house known as the Great Globe Inn in around 1850. The corporation acquired the site and demolished the house in 1878. The new building was designed in the Dutch Renaissance style, built in brick with a cement render finish at a cost of £6,000, and was officially opened by the mayor, Edward Cantwell, on 4 January 1882. ^{[1] [2]}

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Parnell Street. The central bay featured a square-headed doorway flanked by Doric order pilasters supporting a cornice, an entablature bearing the borough coat of arms and a segmental pediment. On the first floor there was a tall round headed window with an architrave and a keystone flanked by paired pilasters supporting a cornice, a gable and a finial. The other bays were fenestrated by square headed casement windows with architraves on the ground floor, and by square headed casement windows with architraves and window sills on the first floor. At attic level, the outer bays were fenestrated by dormer windows surmounted by gables and finials. ^[3]

A monument, sculpted by Joseph Kevin Bracken, intended to commemorate the lives of local people who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, was unveiled outside the town hall in 1904. ^[4]

The building became an important venue for public events. A commissioner for education, Richard Bagwell, founded the Borstal Association of Ireland and became its first president, at a meeting in the town hall in May 1906. ^[5] Also, the Labour Party was founded by James Connolly, James Larkin and William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress at a meeting in the town hall on 28 May 1912. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

The building was extended to the southwest by O'Gorman Construction to a design by S. O. P. O'Ceallachain of Limerick in 1993. ^[9] The building ceased to be the local seat of government in 2014, when the council was dissolved and administration of the town was amalgamated with Tipperary County Council in accordance with the Local Government Reform Act 2014. ^{[10] [11]} A further programme of refurbishment works was initiated in €60,000 was initiated in March 2022. ^{[12] [13]} A reception was held in the town hall on 18 June 2022 to launch the 21st World Masters Mountain Running Championships, which took place in the town on 3 September 2022. ^[14]

References

1. "Clonmel Town Hall". Clonmel.net. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
2. "The New Town Hall, Clonmel". Clonmel Chronicle. 2 July 1881. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
3. "Clonmel Town Hall, Parnell Street, Burgagery-Lands West, Clonmel, County Tipperary South". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
4. "1798 Monument, Parnell Street, Burgagery-Lands West, Clonmel, County Tipperary South". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
5. Cox, Catherine; Riordan, Susannah (2015). Adolescence in Modern Irish History. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   978-0230374911.
6. "Concerns Clonmel Town Hall was going to be invaded by 'militant left-wing' protesters". Tipperary Live. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
7. "Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Second Stage (Private Members)". Oireachtas. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
8. "Extracts from ITUC Conference on 27, 28 and 29 May 1912 in the Town Hall, Clonmel". Irish Trades Union Congress Annual Reports. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
9. "Clonmel Town Hall". O'Gorman Construction. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
10. "Local Government Reform Act 2014". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
11. Local Government Reform Act 2014 (Commencement of Certain Provisions) (No. 3) Order 2014 ( S.I. No. 214 of 2014 ). Signed on 22 May 2014by Phil Hogan , Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government . Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 23 October 2023.
12. "Repairs to Clonmel's Town Hall in Tipperary will cost €60,000". Tipperary Live. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
13. "Improvement works to commence on Clonmel Town Hall". Tipp FM. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
14. "Clonmel Ireland hosts the World Masters Test Race and Press Event". World Mountain Running Association. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2023.