The Town Wall Grennan Castle Jerpoint Abbey Mount Juliet Estate Thomastown Bridge
Thomastown - A Brief History
For as long as man has roamed this land, Thomastown must have been an important river crossing.
The town, as we know it, was founded c.1200 by the Norman, Thomas FitzAnthony, who was granted a large area of land in the region, then known as Ogenti, by William Earl Marshall, son-in-law of Strongbow. Originally called Grennan - a townland name to the to the present day - gradually the town became known by the name of its founder and, most unusually, by his christian name in English and his Sirname in Gaelic.
During the first 100 years the town's population grew to about 1,000. Its survival was assured in the following century by the erection of a town wall, some of which is still standing. An area of some 16 acres was enclosed within the walls and it developed into an important market town. Farm animals and produce were sold there until the mid 1950's in the main street, naturally called Market Street. It is still a market town, drawing people from a radius of 10 to 15 miles for shopping and services.
Milling seems to have been most important. At one stage there were 12 water-powered mills, for grain and cloth, working in the parish. Sadly, the last working mill in Thomastown closed in 1963. Three fine examples of mill buildings can be seen upstream from the bridge. Fishing was always important and in the early days was mainly done by fishing weirs or traps, later snap nets were used, but since 1947 only rod and line angling.
For centuries there was an important boat trade to carry produce to and from the port of New Ross. It went into decline at the end of the 18th century. Then an attempt was made to build a canal from kilkenny to New Ross, but the arrival of the railway in 1848 saw the end of the boat trade and the canal project.
The town of Thomastown has envolved over 800 years. It has seen good times and bad, but it is nice to see in this fast changing world that not too much of the town has been changed, that it still has the layout, the charm of a small medieval walled town.
Today the town is prosperous through newer industries and a growing tourist industry, spearheaded by the magnificent Mount Juliet Estate with its Championship Golf Course, but many just come to enjoy the atmosphere of the town, the friendliness of the people, and the peace and tranquility of this lovely valley of the Nore.
The Town Wall
Thomastown seemingly received a Charter which, sadly, is no longer on record, for the erection of a town wall around 1330, but this was revoked at the request of the Earl of Gloucester, who feared that it might be detrimental to the interests of Kilkenny, which had no walls at the time. This obstacle was overcome in 1374 when a Royal Charter was granted, authorising a toll to be levied on all merchandise coming into or passing through the town for a period of 20 years.
In 1450 the people of Thomastown complained that they had spent the greater part of their income on repairs to the wall and they received another Charter granting them tax immunity for 10 years.
It is believed that the walls had 14 castles or towers on them. To-day, though, the northern and eastern wall have been lost, the western range, while much broken down, still survives. The river Nore itself provided protection on the southern side. Surviving features of the town's medival defences are the Castle and the Tower House on both sides of the Bridge, the stump of a circular tower on the western side and behind the tennis court a square tower which was the north-west corner.
Grennan Castle
This oblong shaped castle belongs to the 13th century and is truly a Norman structure. It is attributed to Thomas FitzAnthony (d. 1229).
The building is of three storeys and seemingly the third floor was restored in the 16th century. The building is 64ft. (20m) by 43ft. (13m) externally and at their base the walls are 8ft. (2.5m) thick. The castle stands 64ft. (20m) tall and in its early days must have dominated the whole river valley.
There are three barrel-vaulted chambers on the ground floor and entrance to the first floor is from the south side by a stairs rising through the thickness of the wall. This floor is isolated by a chasm at the top of the stairs which was once traversed by a trapdoor. This was the castles main defence and would have made it almost impenetrable once the trapdoor was raised.
The first floor was the great hall and in its south-east corner an area was set aside as a chaple. The second would have been the dormitory area and was reached by a stairs set in the east wall. In 1650 the castle was laid seige to by Cromwells army and after two days the defending forces surrendered leaving their arms, drums, colours and ammunitions behind them, and promising never to bear arms again against the Parliament of England. The castle was in good repair until the begining of the 19th century.
Jerpoint Abbey
This abbey is undoubtedly Thomastowns most notable item of historical interest. There was probally an earlier monastery but it was defintely a Cistercian foundation from 1180. It rivals all other Irish foundations and surpasses many in the extent of the remains and the richness of its ornamentation. It follows the general Cistercian plan with the nave running east - west, flanked by north and south aisles.
The chancel, over which a tower was added in the 15th century, is at the eastern end. The eastern range contains the chapter house and calefactory with the monks' dormitory upstairs. The kitchen and refectory were in the southern range and the western range contained the lay brothers' dormitory.
The cloister took up the centre and the visitor's attention is directed to the exquisite carvings on the cloister arcade which are unique in Ireland : also to the sculptures in the side-chaples and the full lenght effigies in the chancel, one of which, "Thomas of Jerpoint", dating from early 14th century, is unusual in that it commemorates a man in Irish rather than Anglo-Norman dress.
The abbey was discovered in 1542 and the five remaining monks were pensioned off and the entire possessions were leased to James Butler, Earl of Ormond, at a yearly rent of £86. The possessions included water mills, salmon weirs, house property in Newtown Jerpoint, Thomastown, Kilkenny and New Ross, along with 2,000 acres of land.
Mount Juliet Estate
Mount Juliet comprises the townlands of Waton's Grove and Ballylinch. Watons, later Waltons, were of Norman origin and held property in this area until the Cromwellian settlement. In the 1750's, the first Earl of Carrick, who was then living at Ballylinch, purchased Waton's Grove from Rev. Thomas Burke. He merged the two estates and renamed the whole area Mount Juliet in honour of his wife.
He commissioned the magnificent paladian mansion in 1762. It remained in the family until 1910, when it was bought by the McCalmont family who owned Norelands and again merged the two estates. Their interest in horses was renowned. They excelled at hunting and racing and they developed the world class Ballylinch Stud Farm. In 1987 the McCalmonts returned to Norelands and sold Mount Juliet to Tim O' Mahony, who had the vision to engage Jack Nicklaus to design and build probably the finest parkland golf course in Europe. Since its opening in 1991 Mount Juliet has staged three Irish Open Golf Championships which were unqualified successes breaking all attendance records.
Mount Juliet house has being transformed into a 5 star luxury hotel the stables into the golf clubhouse, and the estate caters for riding, shooting, fishing and golf for visitors from all over the world.
Thomastown Bridge
There has been a bridge over the River Nore at Thomastown since the 13th century. Our first record dates from 1346 when a Royal Charter was granted to the Provost, Bailiffs and honest men of Thomastown the right to charge a customs toll on all merchandise coming to the town for a period of 4 years, to aid the repair of the bridge. This wooden bridge was for many hundreds of years the only bridge between Kilkenny and New Ross. In 1649 the bridge was partially dismantled to deny Cromwell entry to Thomastown, but in the following year, coming from Kilkenny direction, he gained entry, and the garrison used the now repaired bridge to escape.
Periodically the bridge has been damaged by floods. The most serious on 2nd October 1763, swept away the timber bridge and it was reported that the houses in nearby Weavers Lane were carried away also causing the death of 18 residents.
Weavers Lane was never re-occupied. Floods in November 1787 and September 1797, also did considerable damage. The present bridge dates from 1792 and it was again damaged in the great flood of 1947, which in living memory caused so much devasation, flooding many low lying houses and businesses to depths of 6ft (2m) or more.
