TIPPERARY MANUFACTURING

With the exception of an extensive cotton-manufactory at Clonmel, of recent establishment, the county may be considered to be wholly devoid of manufactures. The ancient staple manufacture of wool, of which Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir formed the centre, was suppressed by the parliamentary regulations made shortly after the Revolution for the avowed purpose of confining the woollen manufacture to England and substituting that of linen in its place in Ireland; yet, notwithstanding this discouragement, stuffs and ratteens were made in large quantities until the close of the last century; and blankets and flannels, much prized for their warmth and durability, are still manufactured in various places. Flax and linen had been manufactured on a small scale, chiefly for domestic consumption, for many years, and a few grants towards the erection of scutching mills were made by the Linen Board from 1817 to 1823.

In 1822, the London Society for the relief of the western counties in Ireland, during the famine occasioned by the failure of the crops, besides supplying nearly £6000 to purchase food for the poor of this county, remitted £2500 for the employment of the peasantry in the linen manufacture; in addition to which grant, other sums were contributed by various charitable societies and by the Linen Board. Societies were consequently formed in seventeen of the most important places by ladies of rank and respectability, (among whom was the Countess of Glengall, who allotted 50 acres of land at Cahir for the growth of flax) to form and superintend establishments for carrying on the manufacture; but notwithstanding these exertions, the linen trade, after languishing a few years, may be said to be nearly extinct in the county.

Flour is now the staple manufacture; there being 61 large mills for grinding it on the several rivers throughout the county; and this branch of industry is deemed to be of such importance that some of the wealthiest individuals in the country have embarked their property in it.

The commerce of the county consists in the extensive exportation of its agricultural produce, the chief mart being Clonmel, from which the export trade is so great that the farmer is here always certain of a favourable market. The market of Thurles is the second in importance, and the others for agricultural produce are those of Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir, Tipperary, Cashel, Templemore, Roscrea, and Nenagh. Carrick-on-Suir, like Clonmel, exports by Waterford to the English markets; Nenagh sends to Limerick, by the Shannon navigation, and to Dublin by the Grand Canal; Roscrea, to Dublin, by the Grand Canal; and Templemore, Thurles, Cashel, Tipperary, and Cahir generally send their products by land carriage to Clonmel or Waterford. The rich southern and eastern plains contribute, perhaps, one-half to the vast exports from Waterford of flour, oatmeal, barley, horned cattle, sheep, and pigs.

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