CLONMEL  , a municipal

borough and the county town of Co . Tipperary, Ireland, in the east parliamentary division, 11 z m . S.W. from Dublin on a branch from Thurles of the Great Southern & Western railway, which makes a junction here with the Waterford and Limerick line of the same company . Pop . (1901) 10,167 . Clonmel is built on both sides of the Suir, and also occupies Moore and Long Islands, which are connected with the mainland by three bridges . The principal buildings are the parish church, two Roman Catholic churches, a Franciscan friary, two convents, an endowed school dating from 1685, and the various county buildings . The beauty of the environs, and especially of the river, deserves mention; and their charm is enhanced by the neighbouring Galtee, Knockmealdown and other mountains, among which Slievenaman (2364 ft.) is conspicuous . A woollen manufacture was established in 1667, and was extensively carried on until the close of the 18th century The town contains breweries, flour-mills and tanneries, and has a considerable export trade in grain, cattle, butter and provisions . It stands at the head of navigation for barges on the Suir . It was the centre of a system, established by Charles Bianconi (1786–1875) in 1815 and subsequently, for the conveyance of travellers on light cars, extending over a great part of Leinster, Munster and Connaught . It is governed by a mayor and corporation, which, though retained under the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898, has practically the status of an urban district council .

By the same act a part of the town formerly situated in county Waterford was added to county Tipperary . It was a parliamentary borough, returning one member, until 1885; having returned two members to the Irish

parliament until the union . The name, Cluain mealla, signifies the Vale of . Honey . In 1269 the place was chosen as the seat of a Franciscan friary by Otho de Grandison, the first English possessor of the district; and it frequently comes into notice in the following centuries . In 1641 it declared for the Roman Catholic party, and in 165o it was gallantly defended by Hugh O'Neill against the English under Cromwell . Compelled at last to capitulate, it was completely dismantled, and was never again fortified . Remains of the wall are seen in the churchyard, and the West Gate still stands in the main street .