Market Ho. — Fethard

On the S side of Main Street, the rear of which overlooks the medieval parish church (TS070-040001-), now Holy Trinity C of I church. The earliest reference dates to 1611 when, ‘Sir Arthur Chichester to any of the King’s Counsel: Warrant to make out a draft of a fiant of letters patent incorporating the inhabitants of two alms-houses at Fethard, built by Sir John Everard’ (Cal. State Papers Ire. 1611-14, 79). In 1612 Sir John Everard was authorised to build a hospital for poor people consisting of two separate structures, to the N and S (TS070-040011-) of the medieval parish church, for men and women respectively and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity (Butler 1976, 8). On the front of the almshouse there are two armorial plaques (TS070-040100-; TS070-040101-) and a crucifixion plaque (TS070-040102-). The latter, dated 1646, was erected by Amy Everard to commemorate the Everard founders and patrons of this building (Crotty 2012, 15). The almshouses were still in use in the 18th century, evidenced by the will of Redmond Everard in 1739 which made provision, ‘for the maintenance of the 12 poor men and women of Feathard’ (Everard 1989, 542). Steile’s map of 1752 indicates ‘the poorhouse walls ⅓ of which is Mr Bardons’ (O’Reilly 2007, 229). This reflects Everard’s portion of the almshouse, as the Everard estate was purchased by Thomas Barton in that year (Everard 1989, 541). Perhaps a third of the building had retained the functions of an almhouse up until this point, though the description ‘poorhouse walls’ may suggest that the building was in a ruinous state. In 1758 Pococke (1958, 58) described ‘the remains of a large house in the town with fine chimneys of hewn stone; it was an almhouse’, implying that the building no longer functioned as such. Griffith’s valuation for 1850 indicates that a market house occupied two-thirds of the building, while the remainder had become a house (O’Reilly 2007, 230). By 1900 the latter portion, at the E end, had become a shop at ground level with an extra door added to give separate access to the upstairs accommodation (ibid.). The building’s market house functions ceased in the 1950s and Fethard District Court sat there for the last time in 1961 (ibid., 231). The first floor had also been used as a dance hall in the 20th century until a purpose built ballroom was erected in the 1960s (ibid.). This modified early 17th-century building (ext. dims. 25.2m x 8.5m; wall T 0.95-1.1m) is two storeys high with attic. At ground level there is a depressed three-centred doorway (Wth 1.23m) in the W gable, though the floor level has been raised obscuring the lower portion. This doorway indicates that the building currently adjoining is later in date. Above this doorway, on either side, there is a horizontal chamfered limestone window (H 0.25m; Wth 0.43m), both blocked internally, with two vertical glazing-bar holes and one horizontal. The northern front façade was re-fenestrated in the 18th/19th century with a large carriage arch inserted in the centre at ground-floor level in the 19th century and a doorway inserted at its W end. Two original single-light windows survive in the N face at ground level, one on either side of the carriage arch, though only that on the W side is fully intact with its hood-moulding. The head of another single-light window, now missing, was visible above the W inserted doorway when the render was removed in 1991. There is also a two-light window with hood-moulding in the E gable and a single-light with hood-moulding at the W end of the S wall. The first floor was accessed via two doorways in the S wall, the W depressed three-centred doorway (Wth 0.88m) has a hood-moulding, but only the lower jambs of the E doorway (Wth 0.98m) survive. Though neither original external stair survives, the wall-footings of stairs running parallel to the rear wall were uncovered during an excavation (pers. comm. Ó Drisceoil, 11 March 2015). At first-floor level two wider single-light windows survive in the N face, that to the W being fully intact with its hood-moulding. Conservation work in 2015 also revealed a window embrasure at the E end of the S wall and a window in the centre of the S wall, the upper portion of which was destroyed when an extension was added to the rear. This work also revealed three original polished limestone fireplaces at first-floor level, one in each gable (W fireplace H 1.38m; Wth 1.38m; E fireplace H 1.53m; Wth 1.17m) and one in the N wall (H 1.34m; Wth 1.36m). There are also indications of a fourth fireplace at the W end of the N wall, though the surround, including relieving arch, has been removed and the opening blocked. The chimney breast, though obscured by plaster, is visible projecting internally at attic level. There is a wall-cupboard (H 0.65m; Wth 0.62m; D 0.6m) at the N end of the W wall. Beneath the eaves, at the W end of the S wall, a large waterspout projects out, indicating a slop-stone at inter-floor level, not visible internally as this area is rendered. The slop-stone must have been accessed via an internal wooden stair which continued to attic level. When the stonework on the front façade was exposed in 2015, two small window sills at eaves level were noted, on either side of the central gable, indicating that the original façade had three gables fronting onto the street. Both windows are identical in width to that in the central gable. The central gable, which was widened at some stage, contains a single-light window with hood-moulding and a chimney breast. The apex of this gable is crowned with an elaborate cut-limestone octagonal chimney stack with ball finial. There is a similar stack on the W gable. In the rear elevation there is also a window sill at eaves level, centrally placed, indicating that there was also a central gable at attic level at the rear. Visible externally in the E gable at attic level is the hood-moulding of a single-light window. There is a small yard to the rear of the building which contains a depressed three-centred doorway at ground level providing access to the church and graveyard. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 11 May 2015