Waterford and Clonmel

Although situated in separate counties, and differing considerably in size and economic importance, in the early seventeenth century the city of Waterford and the town of Clonmel had much in common. They were both on the River Suir, and the bulk of Clonmel’s trade was conducted via the port of Waterford and its deep-water harbour. Both relied on mercantile links with Bristol and the continent, exporting hides, tallow and beef in return for wine, hemp and cloth, and were dominated by Old English families: the Whites, Brays, Barrons and Butlers in Clonmel; the Whites, Waddings, Walshes, Stranges, Comerfords and Lincolns in Waterford. The corporate structures at Waterford and Clonmel were similar, and ensured that the Old English maintained their dominance. Clonmel’s charter of 1608 stipulated that the town would be ruled by a mayor, two bailiffs and free burgesses; Waterford, under its ‘Great Charter’ of 1626, was controlled by a mayor, two bailiffs and 12 aldermen. The inhabitants of Waterford displayed a devotion to Roman Catholicism which brought the disapproval of Lord Deputy Mountjoy in 1603 and the confiscation of their charter and liberties in 1616. Clonmel was equally forthright, but suffered fewer penalties. Although in the elections for the Irish Parliament of 1640 the boroughs returned a mixed bag of New and Old English MPs, during the Irish rebellion of 1641 both boroughs backed the Confederation, and, in the division within the Catholic ranks later in the decade, strongly supported Archbishop Rinuccini and the clergy, rejecting the Ormond Peace of August 1646. E. Downey, The Story of Waterford (Waterford, 1914), 85-133; W.P. Burke, Hist. of Clonmel (Waterford, 1907), pp. 43-84, 218-27; Min. Bk. of Corp. of Clonmel, 1608-49 ed. B. McGrath (Dublin, 2006), pp. x-xi; Civil Survey, i. 385-8; vi. 217-9; McGrath, Biographical Dict. During the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland, both towns caused the New Model army considerable problems. Waterford was besieged in November 1649, but the strength of the defences and the onset of winter forced Oliver Cromwell* to withdraw, and the city remained untaken until August 1650. In April 1650 the assault on Clonmel left over 2,000 English soldiers dead, and when the town finally surrendered, Cromwell discovered that the garrison had escaped in the confusion. Downey, Waterford, 129-33; Burke, Clonmel, 68-79.

After 1650, the two towns started to diverge politically and religiously. Waterford’s corporation was abolished, and the government of the city passed to its military governor, Colonel Richard Lawrence. Downey, Waterford, 137; Ire. under the Commonwealth, i. 29n. Yet the corporation was resurrected in 1656, and was from then on dominated by civilian Cromwellians, including John Heavens, Thomas Noble, and the former army captain, William Halsey*. Downey, Waterford, 141. In 1652 there were efforts to attract an Independent minister from England, but by the mid-1650s Waterford was very conservative in its religious outlook, and soon became a centre of moderate Presbyterianism, under the influence of Dr Edward Worth (minister 1655-7) and his successor, Dr Daniel Burston. Ire. under the Commonwealth, i. 141; Downey, Waterford, 141. Clonmel, by contrast, remained a military town throughout the 1650s, under the governorship of the Baptist, Colonel Jerome Sankey* (from 1651), and his godly successor, Major Thomas Stanley*. Ire. under the Commonwealth, i. 27n; Downey, Waterford, 93-4. A list of householders in 1654 shows the importance of soldiers: apart from Sankey, Colonels Solomon Richards, Daniel Abbott* and John Booker owned property in the town, as did Lieutenant-colonel John Brett*, Major Stanley and other lesser figures. Burke, Clonmel, 245. The corporation was re-established in 1656, but even then the town was under military control. Its first mayor was Major Stanley, and in 1659 the post was held by the treasurer of the precinct, Thomas Batty. B. McGrath, ‘Clonmel Corporation Records, 1657-8’, Archivium Hibernicum lxxi; Burke, Clonmel, 93, 230; SP63/281, unfol. From 1652 the town’s minister was the Independent divine, Samuel Ladyman, who shared the religious radicalism of his military neighbours. Burke, Clonmel, 92.

The differences in the corporate and religious structures in Waterford and Clonmel may explain why, when the constituency was formed, the neutral town of Carrick-on-Suir was chosen as the place of election. CSP Ire. 1647-60, p. 800. Equally, the election of Captain Halsey – a Waterford alderman and former New Model captain – for all three protectorate Parliaments may also reflect the desire to effect a compromise between the very different communities which had grown up in both boroughs since 1651. The surviving indenture, of 3 August 1654, reveals that although the MP was nominally chosen by the ‘citizens and inhabitants’ of the two boroughs, the presiding sheriff was Colonel Daniel Abbott* and the handful of signatories was headed by Colonel Solomon Richards. C219/44, unfol. The contrast between the two towns can be seen in the returns for the General Convention of March 1660, when Waterford again elected Halsey, while Clonmel chose Colonel Booker. Clarke, Prelude to Restoration, 211, 213.

After the restoration of the monarchy, moves to restore the loyal Old English to their rights in Waterford and Clonmel came to nothing. A few Old English names reappear in the Waterford guild-lists, but the aldermen were still mostly newcomers, and the lands in the town and its liberties remained in Protestant hands. Waterford Council Bks. 1662-1700 ed. S. Pender (Dublin, 1964), 1-2; Civil Survey, vi. 221-84. The imposition of strict religious tests on members of both corporations ensured that this situation continued. Downey, Waterford, 147, 153-4; Burke, Clonmel, 97-8. This Protestant bias can also be seen in the parliamentary elections for the two boroughs in the Irish Parliament of 1661: Waterford returned the Cromwellian MP, William Halsey, alongside another newcomer, John Eyres; and Clonmel elected its Old Protestant governor, Sir Francis Foulke*, and the Butler relative, Sir James Shaen – both of whom were clients of the lord president of Munster, the earl of Orrery (Roger Boyle*). CJI i. 593-4.