Cloughjordan, Roscrea - Book of County Tipperary, 1889
About “The Book of County Tipperary,” 1889
George Henry Bassett produced 7 Irish county directories in the 1880s: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Kilkenny, Louth, Tipperary and Wexford. Each provides useful history of the respective counties as well as lists of office holders, farmers, traders, and other residents of the individual cities, towns and villages.
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- This online version is designed primarily as a genealogical research tool and therefore the numerous advertisements in the original book, many full page, and quite a few illustrated, have been excluded.
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Population 644 in 1881—Trout-fishing.
Cloughjordan, in the parish of Modreeny, barony of Lower Ormond, is on the Great Southern and Western Railway, 10 miles, English, south-west of Roscrea, and 9¼ miles northeast of Nenagh by rail. It is situated in a beautiful country extending into the King’s County, the border of which is only a quarter of a mile distant. The town is well built and the houses are in good repair, some of those devoted to business being heavily stocked with merchandize. The land of the district is light, and is chiefly used for tillage. Oats and potatoes are the principal crops. Dairying is done on a small scale, and the butter shipped in lumps to Dublin and London. A considerable area in the vicinity is covered by bog.
There is a patent for a weekly market, but none held. Fairs are held 12th January, 12th March, 12th August, and 12th November. Those of May and August are old. Over seven years ago a pig fair was established on the day preceding each fair for cattle and sheep. This generally secures a supply of from 500 to 1,000. Buyers attend from Limerick, Waterford and elsewhere.
Down to 1861 there was a distillery in operation. It belonged to Mr. Edward Kennedy, and turned out 40 puncheons of pot whiskey every fourteen days. Stoppage was caused by the termination of the lease.
The house at present occupied by Mr. William Hodgins is said to have in the foundation of one of the corners, the stone from which the name of the town is derived (Cloughjordan, Jordan’s stone). It was built by Captain Harrison, an officer in Cromwell’s army, who took possession of a land grant here soon after the campaign of 1651. The strong part of the walls is 9 feet thick, and the kitchen, one storey, arched, and bomb proof, remains in the original condition to this day. The house was surrounded by a fosse, crossed by a drawbridge. A portion of the fosse, filled with water, continues to exist. The property passed by marriage to the Sadlier family, and ultimately to the Pritties, of whom the present owner, Lord Dunalley, is the head.
There are two Protestant churches in the parish, one in the town and the other at Modreeny, about a mile distant on the way to Borrisokane. The church in Cloughjordan dates from 1830. It is built of cut limestone and has a large tower and spire. Cloughjordan was a district parish, formed out of the parish of Modreeny in 1826, and the living was a perpetual curacy, with a stipend of £76 3s. 1d. Of this the incumbent of Modreeny paid £46 3s. 1d. per year. Services in both churches are now conducted by the incumbent of Modreeny. The church of Modreeny was rebuilt in 1828. It has a handsome low castellated tower. Of the ancient church the west gable and small fragments of the side walls, ivy covered, only remain. To the south of the ruin, near the avenue, is the burial place of the Harrisons referred to in connection with the old house at Cloughjordan. The slab covering it bears the inscription, “James Harrison, died 1727, aged 72 years.” In the interior of the modern church the mural monuments commemorate, Thomas Dancer, 1857; Sybella, wife of Thos. Purefoy, M.D., 1840; Frederick Falkiner, 1843, Louisa, his wife, 1817. Epitaph: “The rectitude of disposition was equalled by the mildness of her temper”; Capt. Henry Macdonald Burns, 1864; Maria, wife of Rev. R. D. Robinson, 1865; Thos. Ely, 1844; Rebecca, his wife, 1840.
The Catholic church of the parish is situated at a distance of about a mile from town. It is a cruciform edifice, dating from 1830. Recent improvements to the structure include the erection of limestone buttresses. The high altar, Caen stone and marble, and a handsome screen, commemorate Rev. Michael Scanlan, P.P. A marble monument bears testimony to the affection of the parishioners for the late Rev. Denis Molony, nearly 11 years pastor of Cloughjordan. Died 1880. A little Chapel in town is used for week morning and lenten devotions.
The Methodist church at Cloughjordan dates from 1790. It was rebuilt in 1875 from a design by Mr. A. H. Milne, C.E., and at a cost of nearly £1,000, mostly raised in the district. Exterior and interior are handsome. The re-opening services were conducted by the Rev. W. C. Price, August 13th, 1875. In the evening of that day a lecture was delivered by the Rev. Wesley Guard. Cloughjordon is the head of a circuit which in late years has included Nenagh.
In the townlands of Ballycapple, Behamore and Cloughkeating there are remains of castles, and in Mr. Whitfield’s demesne, foundations of a castle, said to have been destroyed by a gun-powder explosion. Danish forts, some in good preservation, are numerous in the parish.
Bakers: See Grocers
Catholic Ch.: Rev. Jno. Scanlan, P.P.; Rev, Francis McMahon, C.C.; Rev. Dl. O’Meara, C.C.
Church of Id.: Rev. Chancellor Leopold O’Sullivan, Rector
Church, Methodist: Rev. Jno. Good
Church, Presbyterian, Rev. Jas. Douglas
Coach builders: Jas. Graham, Hh. Tooher
Coal: See Grocers
Corn mts.: Jas. Kennedy, Stn. Maher
Dispensary: Dr. R. H. MacLoghlin
Drapers: Miss Mt. Hogan, Sl. Walton
Dunalley estate: M. C. Maude, agent
Emigration Agents: P. Baker, Jno. Bowe, Ml. O’Reilly
Grocers: Marked thus [*] sell spirits; thus [†] hardware; thus [‡] seeds; thus [‖] coal; thus [t] timber; thus [b] are bakers; thus [d] sell drugs: Mrs. A. B. Armitage†‡, Peter Baker, John Bowe*b, John Bruder*b, Cornls. Condren*, Mrs. Mt. Hanlon, Chr. Hannigan†, Ml. Herlihy, Miss E. Henzey*, Fredk. Hodgins. Patk. Kenna*, Jas. Kennedy*, Mrs. Bt. Kennedy, John McLeanb, Stn. Maher*, Ml. O’ReilIy*†‡‖td, C. Pattison†‡‖td, W. Quinlisk, Hugh Tooher*, B. C. Williams†‖‡t, Miss Margaret Power
Hardware: See Grocers
Hotel Keepers: Hh. Tooher, Fredk. Williams
Loan Fund: Jos. Slattery, M.C.
News Agents: P. Baker, Mrs. A. Bland, Ml. O’Reilly
Nursery: Wm. Hodgins
Petty Sessions: every 4th Friday, Jos. Slattery, clerk
Post Master: Peter Baker
Railway: Fredc. McElwee, S.M.
R.I.C.: Wm. Shummacher, Sergt.
School, ladies’, Miss Isabel Hughes
Schools, Nl.: Jos. McDonagh, Mrs. Mary McDonagh, George Lyons
Teachers’ Association: Joseph McDonagh, Sec. and Treas.
Spirit Retailers: See also Grocers: Wm. Cantwell, Phil Murphy, Mrs. A. O’Keeffe, Jno. Stevenson
Timber (see also Grocers): Sl. Walton
Victualler: Miss M.O’Donoghue
FARMERS AND RESIDENTS.
Andrews, Dr. Hall, Knocknacree
Armitage, J. H., Kyleashinnaun
Blackwell, William, Behamore
Brennan, Timothy, Sopwell
Carthy, Martin, Ballycapple
Dann, Jos., Oxpark
Dwyer, Patrick, Killurane
Ely, Major-Gen. Hy., Copse Dale
Fitzgerald, Michael, Bantiss
Fogarty, Michael, Cloneen
Gavin, Edward, Middlewalk
Grant, William, Islandwood
Guest, John, Newtown
Hackett, Mrs. J., The Presbytery
Harty, James, Loughaun
Hawley, John, Ballycapple
Hodgins, Adam, Stonyacre
Hodgins, Mrs. A., Newtown
Hodgins, James, Druminure
Hodgins, William, Druminure
Jameson, John, Hilton
Kennedy, E. (J.P.),Coolnamunna pk
Kennedy, John, Bantiss
Kennedy, John J., Coolnamunna Pk
Lewis, Thomas, Behamore
McNought, John, Modreeny Ho
Mooney, Thos., Cappakilleen
O’Brien, Adam, Newtown
Pyke, Robert, Cloughjordan
Reddan, John, Bantiss
Ryan, Dl., Farranmacbrien
Smyth, Dr. Ptk., Bank House
Smythe, Capt., Beech Lodge
Stoney, Sadlier, Ballycapple
Tierney, Timothy, Behamore
Trench, Hon. C., Sopwell Hall
White, William, Behamore
Whitfield, Geo. (J.P.), Modreeny