Clonmel

Clonmel is the county town of County Tipperary jointly with Nenagh; in 2022 it had a population of 18,000. It stands on the River Suir, which forms the boundary with County Waterford, though the boundary swings south opposite town to include buildings on the other bank within County Tipperary. In Irish Clonmel is Cluain Meala, "honey meadow", presumably referring to the area's good farmland. The town was defended by the river and by stout walls, withstanding a siege by Cromwell for a time before surrendering. Clonmel is mostly modern but has several antiquities worth seeing.

Understand

 * '"All their armye is within a myle to the towne.... Wee expect nothinge else but bee besieged every houre they having nowe noe other place to ayme at but this."
 * - the town garrison sought reinforcement against the approach of Cromwell in 1650.

The valley of the River Suir is a natural transport route, and Cromwell had to come this way to subdue the area. The walled town held out for three weeks then surrendered, but the garrison snuck away by night to Waterford.

The river is tidal as far up as Carrick, so freight barges used to ride up and down on the tide from Waterford. Navigation was possible further up to Clonmel, but involved hauling the barges, not worth the bother once the roads improved. The island in the river made Clonmel an obvious bridging point, so the town continued to be a transport hub, with Bianconi founding his coach network here (see below). Still transport across the sprawling county of Tipperary was tedious so in 1838 it was divided into two Ridings, with Nenagh the county town of the north and Clonmel of the south. The Ridings were abolished in 2014 but county administration is still divided between those towns. This means that Clonmel has a lot of public sector employment; its other trades are engineering, pharmaceuticals and brewing cider.

Get in
Expressway Bus 55 runs daily every two hours from Waterford via Carrick-on-Suir to Clonmel, taking one hour. It continues to Cahir, Tipperary and Limerick.

There is no direct bus from Dublin. Take Expressway 4 from the airport or Busaras to Waterford, 2 hr 30 min, and change.

Bus Éireann 245 runs from Cork via Glanmire, Sallybrook, Watergrasshill, Rathcormac, Fermoy, Kilsworth and Mitchelstown to Clonmel, two hours. M-Sa it's every three hours (hourly between Cork and Fermoy) with only two buses late on Sunday.

Kavanagh's Bus 393 / 396 runs three times M-Sa from Thurles along the back lanes via Fethard to Clonmel, 1 hour 40 min.

has two trains M-Sa from Limerick Junction (for Dublin, Cork and Limerick city) via Tipperary and Cahir, continuing from Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir and Waterford. There are no facilities to collect online tickets at Clonmel.

By car from Dublin follow M8 to Cahir then N24.

Get around
Everything in town is walking distance.

See

 * on O'Connell St was built in 1831 in retro-Tudor style to recreate the medieval west gate of the walled township. Nothing remains of the north or east gates. There were no walls on the south side of town, where the River Suir is a natural moat.
 * County Courthouse on the corner of Nelson St and Wellington St was built in 1802. This is where the "Young Irelanders" of 1848 were tried and sentenced to transportation to the colonies.
 * The Franciscan Friary on Abbey St behind Main Guard is a Roman Catholic church completed in 1886. The original friary was founded in 1269; it was suppressed at the Dissolution but the friars were able to maintain a presence in town. They regained the site and in 1828 opened a church here which proved too small, so the present church was built.
 * Suir Island in the river across Bridge St once had watermills (hence the weirs) and fine homes. Hughes Mill has been turned into apartments and small businesses, but otherwise only scraps remain. You can picnic on the bosky river bank, where the sign "Lady Blessington's Bath" is a memento of the lurid Marguerite Gardiner (1789-1849), Countess of Blessington. She was born in Clonmel but left young into an arranged marriage with a violent drunkard. It's most unlikely she ever bathed here, but she found much steamier circumstances to plunge into in Italy, and became a travel writer and confidant of Byron. She died in Paris, alas 20 years too early for Manet (or was it Monet?) to paint her riverside picnic arrangements.
 * is at Marlfield on the west edge of town. A spring bubbles out of the base of the cliffs into an ornamental pond by a ruined medieval church. It's a picnic and pilgrimage spot.
 * Ardfinnan Castle 10 km west of Clonmel was built in 1185. It was restored in the 19th and 20th centuries into a country mansion; it's privately owned and can't be visited.
 * off R671 is the ruin of an early 19th-century mansion, built with a bit of every ancient style the owners knew of. You mostly come for the woodland walk.
 * Kilcash Castle is 8 km east of Clonmel on N76. It was built from the 16th century but the ruin is now unsafe, so just admire it from the lane.
 * See Fethard for Lisronagh Castle (it's just a stump) and the soggy delights of Slievenamon, the mountain to the north.
 * is a small town 21 km downstream from Clonmel where the main sight is Ormonde Castle. This was built in the 14th century but the 16th century Earl extended it with an Elizabethan manor house. The castle is closed to visits in 2021.
 * is a village on the boundary with County Kilkenny. It has many prehistoric structures, notably the tombs of Baunfree and Knockroe. There are also several early Celtic High Crosses in the village and surrounds.
 * See Fethard for Lisronagh Castle (it's just a stump) and the soggy delights of Slievenamon, the mountain to the north.
 * is a small town 21 km downstream from Clonmel where the main sight is Ormonde Castle. This was built in the 14th century but the 16th century Earl extended it with an Elizabethan manor house. The castle is closed to visits in 2021.
 * is a village on the boundary with County Kilkenny. It has many prehistoric structures, notably the tombs of Baunfree and Knockroe. There are also several early Celtic High Crosses in the village and surrounds.

Do

 * What's on? - listen to Tipp FM on 97.1 FM or read South Tipp Today.
 * IMC Cinema is on Kickham St.
 * The Greyhound Stadium has races Friday and Sunday from 19:00, adult €10. It's just east of the centre between the river bridge and retail park.
 * Golf: Clonmel Golf Club is south on R678. White tees 6366 yards, par 71, visitor round €30.
 * Walk the East Munster Way, which follows the river downstream towards Carrick-on-Suir and upstream towards Newcastle.
 * The Vee Drive is a scenic tour over the hills into County Waterford. It's usually done as a circuit from Lismore (and described on that page), but you could start from Clonmel.
 * Junction Festival is a week-long arts festival in mid-July.
 * The Busking Festival is held in August.
 * Junction Festival is a week-long arts festival in mid-July.
 * The Busking Festival is held in August.

Buy

 * The main retail mall is Showgrounds Shopping Centre, on Davis Rd east edge of town.

Eat

 * Niamh's Deli on Mitchell St is open M-Sa 8AM-3PM.

Drink

 * Town centre pubs include Hearn's Hotel (which has very basic rooms), Phil Caroll's, The Coachman, Sean Tierney's and Liam Daley's.
 * Cider: Bulmer's Irish Cider is made at Anneville 3 km east of town; no tours. They're no longer part of the Bulmer's UK cider company, so outside the Republic their brand name is Magner's but the product is identical. Under that name they've sponsored rugby union (the former Pro14, now the United Rugby Championship), Glasgow Celtic FC, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and other events they reckon the Irish might show up for. Their standard cider is "hard" or dry and they suggest serving over ice.

Connect
As of Jan 2022, Clonmel has a 4G signal from Three and Vodafone, and 5G with Eir.

Go next

 * Fethard has a fine 13th-century church, and parts of the town's medieval walls still stand.
 * Cahir has a castle on a river island, the fanciful Swiss Cottage, and Mitchelstown Cave.
 * Cashel is a must-see for the cathedral and other antiquities teetering on its Rock.
 * Waterford is a port with a great Viking, medieval and Georgian heritage.
 * Lismore south across the hills has several fine mansions and gardens.