Fethard Town Hall () is a municipal building on Main Street in

Fethard, County Tipperary Fethard (; ) (archival records) is a small town in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Dating to the Norman invasion of Ireland, the Defensive wall, town's walls were first laid-out in the 13th century, with some sections of these ...

, Ireland. It is currently used as a museum space and hosts the Fethard Horse Country Experience.

History

Following the granting of a new charter by King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

in 1608, Fethard Corporation was directed to build "a

tholsel Tholsel was a name traditionally used for a local municipal and administrative building used to collect tolls and taxes and to administer trade and other documents in Irish towns and cities. It was at one stage one of the most important secular ...

(common hall) for assemblies". The main landowner, Sir John Everard, responded by laying out Main Street and commissioning

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable organization, charitable public housing, housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the povert ...

for the poor people of the town. The new building was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

and was completed in around 1610. The design involved a broadly symmetrical long main frontage with a central gable facing onto Main Street. There were four doorways on the ground floor providing access to the individual almshouses and a series of

cross-window A cross-window is a window whose lights are defined by a mullion and a transom, forming a cross.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford and New York, p. 214. . The Late ...

s on the first floor. The coats of arms of Sir John Everard and another local landowner, James Butler, 2nd/12th Baron Dunboyne, whose seat was at

Kiltinan Castle Kiltinan Castle is a castle near Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland. History and architecture Kiltinan is one of the oldest inhabited castles in Ireland, having been built in the thirteenth century.

, were fixed to the front of the building. By the mid-18th century, the building was no longer operating as a facility for the poor and an assembly room had been established on the first floor, which was used as a courtroom as well as a meeting place for the corporation. The corporation was abolished under the

Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 ( 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), ''An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland'', was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1840. It was one of the Municipal Corporat ...

but the building was soon brought back into use by the

town commissioners Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, wit ...

who were first appointed at that time. The east end of the building was used as library from the late 19th century. For most of the 20th century, the ground floor served as the local fire station, while the assembly room on the first floor was used as a community events venue, hosting dances and theatre performances. Scenes from the film, ''

Stella Days ''Stella Days'' is a 2011 film directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan and starring Martin Sheen as a Roman Catholic priest in rural Ireland during the mid-1950s. The film is based on the book ''Stella Days: The Life and Times of a Rural Irish Cinema'' ...

'', starring

Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

, were shot in the town hall in 2010. An extensive programme of refurbishment works, involving the replacement of the

cement render Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, (optionally lime) and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on ...

on the front of the building as well as the conversion of the interior for museum use, was initiated in October 2014. The works, which cost €1.6 million, were financed by grants from the

Department of Rural and Community Development The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. Departmental team The headquarters and minis ...

Fáilte Ireland Fáilte Ireland is the operating name of the National Tourism Development Authority of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 to replace and build upon the functions of Bord Fáilte, i ...

and

Tipperary County Council Tipperary County Council () is the local authority of County Tipperary, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban plannin ...

as well as by a series of private donors including the owner of the

Coolmore Stud Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, is the headquarters of one of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champio ...

John Magnier John Magnier (born 10 February 1948) is an Irish business magnate. He is a leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry. Magnier was a senator in the upper house of the Oireachtas, ...

, and the owner of the Watership Down Stud,

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

. The building was officially re-opened by the

Minister of State at the Department of Defence The Minister of State at the Department of Defence () is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Defence (Ireland), Department of Defence of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Minister for Defence ...

Paul Kehoe Paul Kehoe (born 11 January 1973) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency from 2002 to 2024. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Re ...

, as the Fethard Horse Country Experience in May 2017. Items in the collection include the skeleton of ''

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

'', a 14-time champion

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

References

{{City and town halls in Ireland, state=collapsed City and town halls in the Republic of Ireland