The Town Hall, Known in Irish as “ Halla an Bhaile”, was build in the seventeenth century on the site of a private mansion called Hamerton Hall, owned by Richard Hamerton, a timber merchant. The building became an Inn in later years known as the “Globe Inn”. It was rebuilt in 1881 as the town Hall under Alderman Edward Cantwell, Mayor of the time and now contains the Municipal Offices and Council Chambers of Clonmel Borough Council.
The Council Chambers of the Town Hall house 2 important Historical Documents. ON the left hand side of the Mayoral Chair are the Documents given by Charles 2nd to the Town of Clonmel bestowing a Grant to reconstruct the town in 1654, four years after Oliver Cromwell’s siege.
To the right of the Mayoral Chair Documents incorporating the powers of the Corporation, (now known as Clonmel Borough Council) were received by King William 2nd. The original documents were given to the Town in 1600 and were lost. The Document we see today were the replacements given by the King in 1697.
In 1992 while the Town Hall was undergoing renovations, guns were discovered in the walls. It is not clear where they originated but it is believed that they were hidden there during the 1916 rising. The Guns are displayed in a glass case hidden in a panel of the walls in the Council Chamber.
Outside the Town Hall stands the statue of the “98 Man” erected in 1904 in memory of the men involved in the 1798 rebellion. It was sculpted by James K Bracken of Templemore who was one of the founders of the G.A.A.
The Town Hall, is located in Parnell Street, Clonmel, Parnell Street name after Charles Stewart Parnell, Clonmel deriving its name from the Irish version of “ Cluain Meala”, the “Vale of Meadow of Honey”.
