Ardfinnan () is a village in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is situated on the River Suir and R665 regional road. The Catholic parish of Ardfinnan is made up of three areas: Ardfinnan, Ballybacon, and Grange. Ardfinnan is also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Iffa and Offa West.[ Placesnames Database of Ireland - Ardfinnan civil parish] The village is located from the town of Clonmel and from Cahir via the R670 road. As of 2022, the village had a population of 978 people.
History
Saint Declán
Saint Declán journeyed through here in the early 5th century on his famous early-christian pilgrimage route from his monastery at Ardmore to Cashel, “Saint Declan’s Way”. The ford in the Suir where the bridge is now was one of the most important waypoints for pilgrims.
Saint Finnian
It is traditionally believed that Saint
Finian Lobhar (or Finnian the Leper) founded an
abbey, with a
leper colony here in the 6th century, high up behind the site of the now present castle, known as Ard Brennuin and later Ard Finnan in his namesake, where the village gets its name. The 10th century text Litany of Irish Saints II refers to it as “de munt
ir Fhin
nio i
nAird Brendo
mnaig”
and closely means “monastery of Finnian on the hill of Brennuin”.
Saint Carthage of Lismore
In c.631 AD the exiled Saint Carthage and his large cohort of monks travelled south in search of refuge, arriving at Ard Breanuinn on the bank of the river Suir. They were confronted by King Maolochtair of the Déisi and his noblemen to refute the ownership of the land. Afterwards, the King's wife (a daughter of the King of Munster) had a dream which she recalled to him upon waking:
"a flock of very beautiful birds flying above her head and one bird was more beautiful and larger than the rest. The other birds followed this one and it nestled in the king's bosom".
The King replied: "Woman you have dreamed a good dream and soon it will be realised; the flock of birds you have seen is Mochuda (Saint Carthage)" "with his monks coming from Rahen and the most distinguished bird is Mochuda himself. And the settling in my bosom means that the place of his resurrection will be in my territory. Many blessings will come to us and our territory through him."
King Maolochtair met Saint Carthage again to make peace and granted him this land to establish the settlement of Ardfinnan around Ardfinnan Abbey. A similar place further south on the pilgrim path was also granted, considering the large number of monks, from which grew Lismore around his great centre of western learning
Lismore Abbey.
In 908, King of Munster Cormac mac Cuilennáin bequeathed one ounce of gold, one ounce of silver, his , Plate armour and sword to Ardfinnan Abbey. It was said that when Lismore Abbey was sacked by Cambro-Normans during the Norman Invasion of Ireland in 1178, the monks brought all the "Sacred Vessels with them" to Ardfinnan. Ardfinnan Abbey was also said to be fled, then plundered and burnt in 1178.
A Carmelites abbey was later built on the opposite side of the river valley, known as Lady's Abbey, of which its ruin is still extant after it was destroyed during the English Reformation. There was also a monastery for Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regular.
Ardfinnan Castle
A prominent feature of the village is the Anglo-Norman
Ardfinnan Castle, built with its sister
Lismore Castle by Prince John of England in 1185. It was likely built over and with the masonry of Ardfinnan Abbey. As Lord of Ireland, John issued royal charters from the castle during his brief stay there.
The castle and surrounding manor was the site of numerous battles defending the border of Waterford. The 14 arch bridge was started soon after the castle was completed. The castle's list of former owners include the
Knights Templar. The castle is now a private home and is not open to the public.
Fairy Fort
A 50 meter diameter
Fairy fort exists at the crest of the highest point in Ardfinnan, in the Spital-land townland.
Economy
Mills
Mulcahy Redmond which made its renowned Ardfinnan tweeds and
was established by the Mulcahy family in 1869, at the watermill of Ardfinnan Castle. The six-story mill was for a time leased as a
gristmill to James Fennell (of the prominent Fennell
Quakers flour-milling family) by James Prendergast of Ardfinnan Castle. John Hogan Burke & Co. also had a weaving factory here.
[ Power-Loom Weavers Wanted, Clonmel Chronicle, 22 November 1865.] Factory Hill Road between the mill and St. Finnian's Church was known for cottage weaving and spinning. The monastic settlements, particularly Ardfinnan Abbey, would have brought milling and learned crafts to Factory Hill. It's believed the Knights Templar finished cloth woven on Factory Hill by
fulling at the mill in the
Middle Ages. A miller named William the Dyer was recorded in the medieval village of Ardfinnan, then on Factory Hill Road, in 1295.
The old coach road between Cork and Dublin passed by here and the economy was stimulated by pilgrims. Alternately, the Countess of Donoughmore set up an annual clothing market after the famine, called the Ardfinnan Clothing Club.
[ ARDFINNAN CLOTHING CLUB, Clonmel Chronicle, 30 December 1871]
The woollen mills became a leading firm in Irish textiles and was of great benefit to the village of Ardfinnan, providing employment to as many as 300 workers at its peak and electricity and gas for streetlights and homes in the surrounding area long before the Rural Electrification Scheme was introduced. Edward VII visited the mills in 1904. It closed in 1973.
Developments
Ardfinnan was a location, used by
Atari, for the manufacture of wooden video game arcade cabinets from 1974 to 1984. At its height 200 workers were building 2,000 arcade cabinets a month at the location just outside the village. The plant in Ardfinnan closed in 1989.
An insulation manufacturing company, Moy Isover, was also based in the village from 1974 until its closure in 2008.
In January 2017, €800,000 was allocated for essential remedial works on the bridge by the government. As a public safety initiative, a traffic light one way system was put in place on the bridge from the end of 2015 after significant structural damage was discovered.
Transport
During the week, the area is served five times a day in each direction by Bus Éireann route 245 linking it to
Clonmel,
Mitchelstown,
Fermoy and Cork. At the weekend, there are three buses each way.
Sport
The local Gaelic Athletic Association clubs include Ballybacon-Grange GAA and
Ardfinnan GAA. The former is primarily a
hurling club. The latter, a
Gaelic football club, won the Tipperary Senior Football Championship in 2005.
Ardfinnan Anglers have licensed fishing rights to approximately 15 km of river bank on the river Suir. Brown trout and Salmon can be caught in these waters. The river banks are maintained annually by club members who perform the work voluntarily before the commencement of the annual fishing season.
See also
-
List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland (County Tipperary)
External links
