Main Guard (Clonmel)
{{About|the Main Guard in Clonmel, Ireland||Main Guard (disambiguation){{!}}Main Guard}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox building
| name = The Main Guard
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = ga
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| image = Digital Eye–2012–Main Guard.jpg
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| image_caption = Front façade
| map_type = Ireland
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| map_dot_label = Main Guard
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| building_type = courthouse
| architectural_style = Palladian
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| address = 57 Gladstone Street
|location_town = Clonmel
| location_country = Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|52.353149|N|7.701415|W|display=inline,title}}
| altitude = {{Convert|24|m|abbr=on}}
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| start_date = 1674
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| owner = Office of Public Works
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| material = sandstone, limestone, steel, lead, timber, slate
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| designations = {{Designation list
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| designation1 = National Monument of Ireland
| designation1_offname = Clonmel Mainguard Courthouse
| designation1_date =
| designation1_number = 667{{cite web |url=https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-tipperary-south.pdf |work=National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship |date=4 March 2009 |title=Tipperary South |publisher=National Monuments Service}}
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The Main Guard is a former courthouse located in Clonmel, Ireland.{{cite web|url=https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g212095-d1831008-Reviews-The_Main_Guard-Clonmel_County_Tipperary.html|title=The Main Guard (Clonmel, Ireland): Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor|website=www.tripadvisor.ie}}{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adzpSAAACAAJ&q=Main+Guard+Clonmel|title=The Main Guard, Clonmel|first=Margaret|last=Quinlan|date=23 July 1990|publisher=University College Dublin|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TOr2r_7FVOQC&q=%22Main+Guard%22+Clonmel|title=History of Clonmel|first=William P.|last=Burke|date=1 July 2010|publisher=Read Books|isbn=9781445507682|via=Google Books}} It is a protected structure and designated as a National Monument.
Location
The Main Guard is located in the centre of Clonmel, north of the River Suir.{{cite web|url=http://visualartists.ie/listings/exhib-munster/place-and-time-vincent-hannon-at-the-main-guard-clonmel-co-tipperary/|title=Place and Time - Vincent Hannon at the Main Guard Clonmel, Co. Tipperary|date=26 May 2017|publisher=}}
History
It was here that the "main guard" of the troops for Clonmel were once stationed. During the Siege of Clonmel (1650), the old Manor Court was destroyed, and after the restoration of the 1st Duke of Ormonde's (1610–88) palatinate rights in 1662, he ordered the building of a new courthouse. Some of the stone was taken from Inislounaght Abbey (closed in 1540).{{Cite web|url=https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=14918|title=Marlfield (Inishlounaght)|website=CRSBI}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKdnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22main+guard%22+inishlounaght|title=South Tipperary, 1570-1841: Religion, Land and Rivalry|first=David J.|last=Butler|date=12 March 2006|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=9781851828913 |via=Google Books}} It was completed in 1674: a courthouse for the Palatinate of County Tipperary. Also in the courthouse were private apartments, a dining room and drawing room. These were used to entertain King James II in Clonmel in 1689. The building was also used as a "tholsel", for gathering tolls. Some of the design was copied from works of Sir Christopher Wren.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xsGVONPs9gC&q=Main+Guard+Clonmel&pg=PT315|title=The Hidden Places of Ireland|first=David|last=Gerrard|date=23 July 2017|publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd|isbn=9781904434108|via=Google Books}}
In 1715, the Palatinate jurisdiction was extinguished. After that, the Clonmel Assizes was held in the building, and it was there that Father Nicholas Sheehy, the anti-Penal Laws agitator, was tried in 1766. He was hanged, drawn and quartered.{{cite web|url=http://www.waterfordcountymuseum.org/exhibit/web/Display/article/194/7/?lang=en |title=Nicholas Sheehy|publisher=Waterford County Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720183255/http://www.waterfordcountymuseum.org/exhibit/web/Display/article/194/7/?lang=en |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}
In about 1810, the ground floor, a loggia of open arches, was converted into shops, a basement excavated and additional floors inserted. In the 1990s the Office of Public Works began to restore its original form and the open arcade of sandstone columns is once again a feature of the streetscape.{{cite web|url=http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/south-east/themainguard/|title=Heritage Ireland: The Main Guard|website=www.heritageireland.ie}}{{cite web|url=http://www.clonmel.ie/the-main-guard.html|title=The Main Guard Clonmel|website=CLONMEL}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKdnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Main+Guard%22+Clonmel|title=South Tipperary, 1570-1841: Religion, Land and Rivalry|first=David J.|last=Butler|date=23 July 2017|publisher=Four Courts|isbn=9781851828913|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibJnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Main+Guard%22+Clonmel|title=Clonmel, 1840-1900: Anatomy of an Irish Town|first=Seán|last=O'Donnell|date=23 July 1998|publisher=Geography Publications|isbn=9780906602515|via=Google Books}}
Architecture
File:Digital Eye–2015–Main Guard (on fire)-2.jpg
The Main Guard is a formerly detached five-bay two-storey courthouse and market house, with arcaded ground floor. It incorporates classical elements, such as the pediment.{{cite web|url=http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?county=TS®no=22117066&type=record|title=Additional Images: Buildings of Ireland: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage|website=www.buildingsofireland.ie}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ireland.com/en-us/what-is-available/attractions-built-heritage/historic-houses-and-castles/destinations/republic-of-ireland/tipperary/clonmel/all/1-13954/|title=The Main Guard - Historic houses and castles - Clonmel #irlnd|publisher=}} A major programme of restoration works, carried out to a design by Punch Consulting, commenced in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.punchconsulting.com/our-projects/conservation/main-guard-clonmel-tipperary/|title=Main Guard, Clonmel, Tipperary - Punch consulting|website=www.punchconsulting.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/the-main-guard/13954|title=The Main Guard - Attractions - Historic Houses and Castles - All Ireland - Republic Of Ireland - Tipperary - Clonmel - Discover Ireland|first=Website design and development by|last=Tibus|website=www.discoverireland.ie}}{{cite web|url=http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/sports-recreation/postcards-of-ireland/tipperarys-historical-pos/clonmel/the-main-guard/|title=The Main Guard|website=www.askaboutireland.ie}}
