Fethard

In the valley of the Clashawley River which flows along the S side of the town, outside the town wall. Two bridges (TS070-040017-; TS070-040018-) crossed the river giving access to the town, one at the W end leading to Madam’s Gate and the other at the SE end leading to Water Gate. There were three other gates into the town, North Gate, Pierce’s or Wicket Gate in the NE and East Gate. Though documentary evidence is lacking as to when Fethard was established, in 1208 William de Braose, one of King John’s chief tenants in Tipperary since 1201, claimed Fethard as 'his borough' (Reg. St. John Baptist, Dublin, 298). Following a dispute between King John and de Braose in 1215 Fethard was re-granted to the archbishops of Cashel (Laffan 1906, 143). The parish church of St. John (TS070-040001-), now Holy Trinity Church, and its graveyard (TS070-040044-) occupies a large portion of the southern area of the town and dates to the 13th century. Later in the 13th century, in 1292 the town received a seven-year murage grant to facilitate the building of town defences (TS070-040032-) (Cal. doc. Ire., 1285-1292, No. 1015). In 1306 an Augustinian Friary (TS070-040004-) was founded outside the walls by Walter de Mulcote (Cal. Justic. Rolls Ire., Ed. I 1305-07, 237, 310). In the late 14th century, in 1375 Edward III gave permission for a ten-year murage grant to the town (Chart. privil. immun., 71). This was followed by murage grants in 1409, 1449 and 1468 (Cal. Pat. and Close Rolls, Hen. II - Hen. VII, 189, No. 25; Stat. Ire., Hen. VI, 176; Stat. Ire., 1-12 Edward IV, 497), the latter following the burning of Fethard in that year by Gerald FitzGerald, brother of Thomas, the executed Earl of Desmond (Othway-Ruthven 1980, 393). In the 15th century a building (TS070-040002-) known as ‘Edmond’s Castle’ was built onto the town wall in the SE angle of the church precinct, and a large tower house (TS070-040005-), currently known as Fethard Castle, was built on Watergate Street. Both these buildings have first-floor entrances to their residential quarters facing into the church precinct. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539-40, an extent was made in 1541 concerning the friary, which was granted to Edmund Butler, Baron of Dunboyne in 1544 (White 1943, 239; Gwynn and Hadcock 1988, 300). In 1553 Fethard acquired a charter granting the borough a corporation comprising a sovereign, provost, burgesses and commonalty, with all the power and liberties of Kilkenny (Laffan 1906, 143). The town is recorded as having a tholsel in 1596 (Cal. Pat. Rolls Ire., Eliz. 359). This building would have had several functions, such as a guildhall and meeting place for merchants, a customhouse and a courthouse. A map of 1708 shows two buildings in the middle of Main Street near the market place, one of which was the tholsel (TS070-040103-). Evidence for this building was uncovered during archaeological excavations in 2012 (Pollock http://www.excavations.ie/report/2012/Tipperary/0023527/ downloaded 15/11/2014). Pollock (ibid.) also uncovered evidence that the northern street line of Main St. was originally further S than it appears today. In 1607/8 Sir John Everard obtained a charter for Fethard from King James whereby the town was made and created a corporation and body politic, comprising a sovereign, 12 burgesses and one portrieve (Laffan 1906, 146). The Everards were a prominent family in Fethard throughout the 17th century. Clear evidence of the patronage of this family survives in the form of an almshouse (TS070-040003-) endowed in 1612 by John Everard, now known as the town hall, and a second (TS070-040011-) externally attached to the S of the town wall. An inquisition of 1635 relating to Everard property belonging to the borough of Fethard lists ‘3 castles, 84 messuages or tenements’, probably within the town as well as ‘100 great gardens, 2 mills, 400 acres arable land, 20 acres meadow, 200 acres pasture, 100 acres wood’ surrounding the town (Everard 1989, 537). In the mid-17th century, during the turbulence following the 1641 Rebellion and subsequent Cromwellian campaign, Fethard remained relatively unscathed, surrendered first to Lord Inchiquin in 1647 and then to Cromwell in 1650, receiving unusually favourable conditions from the latter (O’Donnell 2010, 64-73). A list of proprietors in Fethard in 1641-63, records 66 houses in the town belonging to just 20 individuals (Gallwey 1980, 5-8). Of these, four were Everards, four Hacketts and three Vins (ibid.). The housing stock consisted of 52 thatched houses, 13 stone houses, one slate house and two castles, one of which was described as ‘ruinous’ (ibid.). In 1665, during the reign of King Charles II, a property tax was introduced based on the number of hearths in a house. The returns for 1665 list 48 proprietors, most of whose houses had one hearth, though Sir Redmond Everard had 6 and 10 proprietors had two (Laffan 1911, 73). This could refer to the number of fireplaces in one house or to a number of properties, each with one hearth. The 1665-7 returns for the parish of Fethard list 101 proprietors with hearths at this time, the 14 wealthier inhabitants having two or more hearths (ibid.). ‘Sir [R]Edmond Everard’ had 16 hearths, a good number of which were no doubt in his large mansion (TS070-040019-) on Main Street (ibid., 113).