The usage and evolution of the town name.

Mitchelstown derives its name from the Norman Family of Fitzdavid de St. Michel who founded the town in the 11th century. A century later it passed to the Clangibbon whose chief was the White Knight. In the mid - 17th century, the King family, who were barons and earls of Kingston, became owners of a 100,000 - acre estate around the area. Robert, the second Earl, demolished the old town and replaced it with a new one in the 1780's.

The centre of the modern town of Mitchelstown was laid out for the second and third Earls of Kingston between 1776 and 1825. The new town replaced a medieval town that stood west of the present town. Its simple but impressive layout was probably designed by John Webb, who also designed Mitchelstown Demesne for Robert, the second Earl of Kingston, and his wife, Caroline. Webb was an assistant to the great English landscaper, Capability Brown.

Mitchelstown Demesne was 502 hectares (1,240 acres) in area. It incorporated three artificical fishponds, extensive farm buildings, walled gardens, stables, an ice house, bridges, woodlands and avenues. This was enclosed by a 10.5 kilometre (6.5 miles) long limestone wall which stood at an average of three-metres (10ft) in height. The wall took over 19 years to build, at a cost of £16,000, and was not completed at the time of Robert's death in 1799.

Caroline and Robert chose to honour their sons George, Robert, James, Edward and Thomas, in the street names of the new town.

The monastery of Brigown gives its name to two-thirds of the modern parish of Mitchelstown. It was founded in the seventh century by a warrior monk named Fionn Cu, or Fanahan (White Hound). Apparently, Fanahan was born at Rathealy, near Fermoy, and was the son of an Ulster petty chieftain exiled in Munster. As was common in Early Christian times, Fanahan entered religious life at a very early age. He joined the monks at the monastery of Bangor, County Down, where he was attributed with a quick temper and astonishing spiritual powers. A quarrel with his brethern led to Fanahan's expulsion from Bangor. He and a few of his followers made their way to the King of Munster's residence at Cashel, where he told King Cathal MacAedha that he wished to have land to build a monastery in Munster. The monarch duly obliged the holyman with a grant of Fan Muilt (The Wether's Slope), which was at that time a great dairy farm owned by the King's wife, and roughly equivalent to the 19th century civil parish of Brigown. We are told that it was here Fanahan 'proclaimed and gave evidence of Our Saviour and was a flame against guilty men.'

The origin of 'Brigown' as the name of his monastery is described in extraordinary terms by the 14th century Book of Lismore. It says that Fanahan had given his holy soul to the King of the Deise, in return for the king's sinful soul, and considerable property and lands. In return, Fanahan had to perform various acts of penance so that he might win a place in heaven for his new soul. He commissioned seven smiths to make seven sickles, from which he hung for seven years as a form of self mortification. The smiths refused payment for their work, but instead asked that the new monastery would be named in their honour. Fanahan agreed to call his church Bri Gobhann which means 'Smiths' Hill' and promised his seven employees that they and their children would always have the gift of master craftsmanship, so long as they practised their skills in Brigown.

Fanahan died about 660. A cult of prayer and pilgrimage developed at Saint Fanahan's Holy Well, just a short distance from Brigown Church, which is all that is now left of the monastic city founded by Fanahan. This religious devotion culminates on the saint's feast day of 25 November, when thousands of people visit the well to pray and to drink its water.

	Two other monks of note also lived in the neighbourhood during the sixth and seventh centuries. Saint Abban of Leinster blessed Brigown and founded a church at Kildrum. Saint Molagga was the founder of several churches in the locality, including Ahacross, Leabba Molagga and Tullach Mhin Molagga. A noted missionary, Molagga was reputed to have been born of peasant parents at Liathmuine, the residence of Cuana MacCalchine, Prince of the Fir Muighe, whose fort stood beside the Funcheon at Cloghleafin. Cuana's hospitality was famous throughout ancient Ireland. However, a great friendly rivalry developed between Cuana and Guaire, King of Connaught, as to who could show the greatest hospitality to a guest. Cuana established the Laws of Liathmuine, which set down codes of hospitality and conduct. These rules were observed throughout Ireland, and were in many ways forerunners of the Laws of Chivalry.
A noted missionary, Molagga was reputed to have been born of peasant parents at Liathmuine, the residence of Cuana MacCalchine, Prince of the Fir Muighe, whose fort stood beside the Funcheon at Cloghleafin. Cuana's hospitality was famous throughout ancient Ireland. However, a great friendly rivalry developed between Cuana and Guaire, King of Connaught, as to who could show the greatest hospitality to a guest. Cuana established the Laws of Liathmuine, which set down codes of hospitality and conduct. These rules were observed throughout Ireland, and were in many ways forerunners of the Laws of Chivalry.
	Molagga's oldest church in the neighbourhood was at Baunnanooneeny. But the best known of his foundations is Aghacross the ford of the cross, on the banks of the Funcheon river, where there was also a renowned holy well. However, pilgrimages to the well have more or less died out. This church and the one at Brigown were restored in the 1980s and '90s by Cork County Council's Historic Monuments Committee. Also on the Funcheon, and near to Aghacross, is the ruined church of Marshalstown, which gives its name to the other third of the Mitchelstown area. The most prominent feature in this site is the old Protestant church, now in ruins. A doorway and parts of some walls are all that remain of its medieval parish church. This locality was occupied, following the Norman invasions of the 12th century, by the St. Michels, a family whose patron saint was Saint Michael. It is from this family that the name of Mitchelstown is derived.

There is no factual foundation to claims that the town was held by the de Cauntetons (Condons), or that the town was named after a member of that family. The Placenames Commission, as well as numerous historians of impeccable standing, reject claims that 'Mitchelstown' has a de Caunteton origin. On the basis of evidence from 1286 and 1288, it seems certain that the placename involves a surname, not a first name. In 1286, Villa Michel was held by the heir of Geoffry Michel. In 1288 the same man held the 'Vill of Michel.' Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that this Norman soldier of fortune was the founder of modern Mitchelstown, which he probably obtained in reward for his military services.

Townlands.

The modern parish of Mitchelstown is comprised of two civil parishes, Brigown and Marshalstown. Brigown parish has 6,156 hectares (15,212 acres) divided into 32 townlands. Marshalstown has 21 townlands comprising 2,950 hectares (7,290 acres).

Townlands are based on ancient land divisions. The word 'townland' is a misnomer. The original Irish of townland is 'baile,' which does not directly translate into English, and can mean 'the land of,' which was a common legal formula for describing a property. The townland became standardised as a basic division in the 17th century through repeated usage in surveys and land transactions.

The size of townlands varies enormously. Townland boundaries usually coincide with either man-made or natural features; roads, walls, buildings, rivers, ditches and hill crests are the most frequently used types of boundaries. Several of the townland names are unique to the Mitchelstown area, such as Baunnanooneeny, Pollardstown and Brigown, but many of the names are found elsewhere (eg, Ballinamona and Ballybeg). The meaning of placenames invariably reflect a unique aspect of local history or geography. However, a few names, such as 'Galtee,' come from an older pre-Celtic language for which all meaning and understanding has been lost.

The following is a loose interpretation of what local placenames may mean. It is NOT a definitive interpretation or translation of the names.

LOCAL RIVERS

Funcheon River
An Fhuinsinn or Abhann na Fuinseann: 'river of the ash-trees.'

Gradoge River
An Ghreadog: 'the fast flowing stream.'

Here is an explanation of the street names,
with some information about
the people and events associated with them.

	BALDWIN STREET - Possibly named after an estate agent of the Kingsboroughs, but more probably after John Baldwin, who had a cotton factory nearby. This street was the birthplace of John Sarsfield Casey, a Fenian of the 1860s, who sailed as a prisoner on the 'Hougoumont' - the last convict ship to Australia. Casey was better known by his pen name of 'the Galtee Boy,' under which he wrote long vitriolic letters about nationalism, Fenianism, land issues and emigration to the Cork and Dublin newspapers. The Bank of Ireland opened a branch in Baldwin Street in the 1870s.
BANK PLACE - The National Bank opened there in the 1820s, thus giving its name to this street. However, this bank was predated by an earlier private bank, which probably started there in the 1770s. The bank premises was a solicitor's office. Beside it stands the Manor Mill of Mitchelstown, which was an important local employer in the early 19th century. It is now derelict but planning permission has been granted for its regeneration as a hostel and bistro bar.
	BARRACK ROAD - A military barracks opened here in 1822. It was designed to accommodate three officers and 72 non-commissioned officers. The barracks was burned in the Civil War in 1922 - all that now stands of the original structure is its interesting defensive wall. A training hall for the FCA (the Irish reserve army) stands at the entrance to the old barracks.
BRIGOWN - 'Smiths' Hill.' Site of the 7th century Brigown Church, founded by Saint Fanahan. The ruins of an 12th century church (which has beatures from earlier and later periods) now dominates the view of its graveyard. A fever hospital in Brigown, built in 1823 by the Earl of Kingston, is now the home of the Dwane family. Across the road from it stood the Glebe, where rectors of the parish lived until the early 20th century. Built in 1807, with stones from the round tower that once stood in Brigown graveyard, it was demolished in the 1970s. The road at Brigown hill was lowered in the 1840s to provide employment during the Great Famine. Brigown road has the main entrance avenue to the Christian Brothers' schools, founded in 1857. The brothers left Mitchelstown in 1998, but their primary and secondary schools are now managed by independently appointed boards of management.
	CHURCH HILL - One of the two original driveways to the Catholic parish church. The limestone gateway is of interest because it was designed by the architects James and George Richard Pain. A matching set of piers can be seen at Convent Hill.
CHURCH ROAD - Links Mulberry Lane with the Catholic church, and was only officially named in 1988. St Fanahan's College, established 1980, is located here. A tall celtic cross, which stood on this road, may now be found at the centre of the Catholic parish church graveyard. According to local tradition, the cross commemorated local people who died during the Great Famine of 1845-1851. Its inscription states 'Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends; because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.'
	CHURCH STREET - This takes its name from Saint George's Church, which stands at its western end. The Pains also designed this building. The church was built in 1801-1804 and is one of Mitchelstown's finest buildings where Church of Ireland services continue to be held every Sunday. The graveyard behind the church has many interesting headstones.
CLONMEL ROAD - In years gone by this was the main road from Mitchelstown to Dublin, via Clonmel. The area outside Sutton's yard was the site of an ambush against a detachment of English troops in June, 1921. A dog's head water fountain used to stand nearby. Mitchelstown Creameries was founded in 1925 and outside the cheese factory in Clonmel Road is a plaque commemorating the founding of Mitchelstown Young Farmers Club in 1926.
	COACH LANE - Also known as Arch Avenue, because it has an unusual archway closing one end. Apparently, this was where the coachmakers of the town lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.
CONVENT HILL - The Presentation Sisters (a teaching order) were introduced to Mitchelstown in 1853 and their role in educating local children has been outstanding. Their convent, at the top of this hill, has an interesting burial ground. The nuns closed the convent in 2002. A plaque outside the convent gate acknowledges their work in Mitchelstown during their 149-years of association with the town. Plans are being prepared to build an under ground twin-plex cinema at the convent. Some 325 square metres (3,500 sqare feet) of the former Convent building, including its chapel, is being donated to the community for development as a cultural and arts centre. Apartments and a playground will also be built on the site.
	CORK STREET (Upper and Lower) - This is the main street of the town, reputedly built over a stream that was diverted into a large culvert underneath the road. The Garda Station (opened 1982), has an interesting sculpture of Saint Fanahan, the local patron. This was sculpted by Cliodna Cussen. Further down the street and on the opposite side is Campaign House, which was the headquarters of the Land League during the Land War on the Kingston estate in the 1880s. Three doors further along the street was the old barracks of the Royal Irish Constabulary (now Dorans and McCarthys Insurance). A memorial on the opposite side of the street, at Mr Mister, commemorates John Casey, John Shinnick and Michael Lonergan who were shot by police during a Land League meeting on 9 September 1887.
EDWARD STREET - The town's shortest street; probably named after Edward, first Earl of Kingston.
	GEORGE STREET - The third Earl of Kingston gives his name to this street, which was once the location of the Kingston School (now the Finn residence). This Georgian style house was built by Caroline, Countess of Kingston, who had a keen interest in educating the poor. The third Earl of Kingston was an infamous individual, whose life is described in Bill Power's book, 'White Knights, Dark Earls, the rise and fall of an Anglo-Irish dynasty,' (The Collins Press, 2000). The Kingston estate at Mitchelstown was 40,500 hectares (100,000 acres) in area, and stretched across counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary.
JAMES STREET - James King, youngest son of the second Earl and Countess of Kingston, joined the navy at the age of eleven, and reached the rank of Rear-Admiral by the time of his retirement in 1815. He was a friend of Queen Caroline, wife of George IV.
	KING SQUARE - King was the family name of the Earls of Kingston. One of the finest Georgian squares in Ireland, half of this square is comprised of Kingston College. The square was built as the entrance to Mitchelstown Castle, which stood on the site now occupied by the factory towers. The house on the left-hand corner with George Street (facing Saint George's Church) was the site of the Freemasons' Grand Lodge No. 1, Ireland. The Mitchelstown Warrant is now held by the Cork Grand Lodge. The stone building on the corner with Baldwin Street was formerly the Kingston Arms Hotel.
KING STREET - This opens up a fine vista of the Catholic Church (opened 1834) and New Market Square. This street has an interesting and important 19th century shopfront.
	MULBERRY LANE - A once beautiful laneway lined on both sides by dozens of thatched cottages which housed labourers of the Kingston estate. The 400,000 mulberry trees that grew here are all gone, as are most of the 170 cottages which used to stand there but the entrance to St Fanahan's Well still remains. The well is a peaceful place of prayer, surrounded by trees and streams. It is a much admired and appreciated peaceful walk. The well has a fine penal-cross erected in 1989, and sculpted by Ken Thompson. This depicts Saint Fanahan, holding his cenncathach ('headbattler') - a staff that symbolised his spiritual and temporal authority as both a monk and a warrior.
NEW MARKET SQUARE - Markets in Mitchelstown date their origin to at least the 13th century, which were confirmed by Royal Charter in 1618. The markets, although much changed, are still held on Thursdays. The square was the scene of many important public meetings over the centuries. The most famous was a Land League meeting in 1887, where police opened fire on a crowd of 8,000 people. Three men were shot dead. This incident caused the Liberal leader, William Gladstone, to coin the clarion call 'Remember Mitchelstown,' on the strength of which the Liberals won the next five by-elections in Britain. The Market House, erected in 1825 at a cost of ?3,000, is now part of the Co-op shops. At the top of the square stands a row of stone buildings which were an orphanage and a post office. The bronze sculpture of John Mandeville was erected there in 1906 and has been a landmark on the Cork to Dublin road ever since. Mitchelstown Co-op was founded here in 1919. In 2001, Mitchelstown Heritage Society commissioned 'Timepiece' - an analematic sundial in which the shadow of a person standing in the right position tells the correct time. The impressive sculpture was widely acclaimed as the most unusual and interesting sculpture erected in Ireland in 2001.
	RAILWAY ROAD - This was the entrance to Mitchelstown railway station. The 20 Kilometre (12 miles) line from Mitchelstown to Fermoy opened in 1891, but the continuation to Cahir was never built. The railway officially closed to passenger traffic in 1947, and to all traffic in 1963.
ROBERT STREET - Robert Edward King, first Viscount Lorton and Baron Erris of Boyle, is remembered in the name of this street. He owned a vast estate of 28,000 hectares (70,000 acres) around Boyle, County Roscommon. His eldest son became sixth Earl of Kingston in 1869. This street is the home of the James Fitzgerald Memorial Brass and Reed Band, which was founded as the Mitchelstown Brass and Reed Band in the 1860s.
	THOMAS STREET - Named after the second Earl's third son, who died as a child. The hall was built as the Catholic parish church in the 1780s, by the second earl, who believed that his Catholic tenants were entitled to worship openly. After 1834 the building became a school. During the Great Famine (1845-'51) many people were buried in the grounds of the former church. The 4,000 locals who died or emigrated from Mitchelstown during those years, are commemorated by a limestone sculpture outside the hall.

THE CO-OPERATIVE STORY IN MITCHELSTOWN
By Bill Power

It was against the backdrop of the War of Independence and Civil War that Mitchelstown Co-operative Agricultural Society Ltd came into being in 1919. A group of local farmers, angered by high prices being charged for farm supplies by local businesses, pooled their resources to purchase a quantity of grass and corn seeds directly from wholesalers. This challenge to the status quo of farmers being charged high prices by local shops, would have far reaching consequences.

Within weeks, those same farmers - Con O'Brien, Roger Kiely, Joe O'Donoghue, PJ Luddy, James Quinlan and James Dwane - had begun discussions with the Irish Agricultural Organization Society with a view to forming a co-op. By April 1919, plans were well advanced for the formation of Mitchelstown Co-operative Agricultural Society Ltd.

On 14 May 1919, at a shareholders meeting in the town, it was decided to establish a co-operative store first, and if that proved successful, to set up a farmers' creamery. On 25 June, the new society was legally registered at its office in New Square. This store in what is now part of the Supervalu shop, opened for business on 12 November 1919.

Early progress was slow. Accounts for the first seven months of trading showed a profit of £361. This was re-invested in the business, which gradually expanded both in terms of shareholding and in trading. At a meeting in August 1920, a committee of management was elected under the chairmanship of Con O'Brien of Killickane. Others elected to the committee included Roger Kiely, PJ Luddy, William Quinlan, Joe O'Donoghue, Ned Quane, Michael McGrath, Denis O'Brien, James Quinlan, Patrick Clifford, Dan Williams, Thomas McCarthy, Thomas Lyons, Michael Lewis and Mark Barrett.

Over the next 20 years, one success followed another. In 1925, the creamery opened on Clonmel Road under the management of Eamon Roche, a native of Bruree, who was a former TD and life-long friend of Eamon de Valera's (Taoiseach and later President of Ireland).

The creamery's main product was 'Galtee Butter,' and this was a vital element in Mitchelstown Creameries' ability to pay a relatively high milk price. By May 1928, the creamery had a peak average daily milk intake of 4,900 gallons (22,280 litres). Within a couple of years, it had expanded its network of creameries to include Curraghgorm, Ballindangan, Ballyhooly, Darragh, Glanworth, Knockadea, Ballyporeen, Araglin and Burncourt, thereby increasing its daily milk intake to 29,000 gallons (132,000 litres).

Eamon Roche was the shining figure of Mitchelstown Co-op's early evolution. He was a visionary of sorts, who frequently had to stand up to conservative elements with the committee of management. In 1932, Roche obtained a licence from the government to obtain the monopoly for the production and sale of processed cheese on the Irish market.

Its first cheese factory was established in old stableyards at Baldwin Street, behind the former Kingston Arms Hotel, which the co-op had purchased as offices. It turned out three branded processed cheeses - Galtee, Whitethorn and Three Counties - all of which became household names. These were later sold on the UK and American markets.

However, expansion brought its own problems. The 1930s was a decade of industrial disputes at the creamery, where workers continually complained of harsh working conditions and poor wage levels. Strikes followed, and on one occasion, young farmers broke a strike by entering the creamery to operate it in the absence of the employees.

The production of cheese also created environmental problems. Faced with whey as a useless by-product, farmers were encouraged to go into pig production (pigs fatten well on whey). Consequently, pig production increased dramatically in the area so that, in the 1960s, the decision was made to establish Galtee Foods, for the processing of pork.

Meanwhile, in 1952, Mitchelstown Creameries lost its monopoly licence for the manufacture of process cheese. Faced with stiff competition, particularly from the Golden Vale group of creameries, Mitchelstown's share of the Irish market declined rapidly. It was only in the 1960s, during the time that John McCarthy was general manager, that Mitchelstown cheese regained its place on shop and supermarket shelves. Investment in a new plant at Clonmel Road, proved to be a cornerstone in the co-op's development and expansion since, as had the development of the 'Galtee 'Tender-Made' Food Products factory on Cahir Hill in 1966.

In 1966, the co-op employed 800 people. Its turnover reached £6.2 million. It had 2,391 shareholders. As impressive as those figures were for that time, they were soon to increase even more dramatically with the amalgamations of over 20 other co-ops with Mitchelstown during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1990, Mitchelstown merged with Ballyclough Co-op to form Dairygold. It took several years before the society took the necessary measures to benefit from the potential which the merger offered.

Archaeology.

Members of Mitchelstown Heritage Society who visited the archaeological excavation at a Bronze Age habitation site in Mitchelstown Demesne, during preparatory works for the construction of the town's bypass. The site dates back to about 2,000BC. Several interesting sites and objects were found along the route of the road prior to commencement of construction work. Among the sites excavated were a fulacht fiadh (Bronze Age cooking site) and a medieval corn-drying kiln. The most important find was a Bronze Age polypot depicting a human face - only one other of its type is known to exist in Europe. Mitchelstown by-pass opened in July 2006.

Trail.

Mitchelstown is one of the oldest towns in North Cork and fourished as a centre for markets and fairs; the Thursday markets, re-granted by Royal Charter in 1618, continue to this day. The background history has been synopsised from the booklet entitled Mitchelstown Town Trail (17.1), courtesty of Cork. County Council and Cork/Kerry Tourism.

This walk introduces you to the history and architecture of the town. The town trail can be walked in about 2.5 hrs. The trail starts in New Market Square (1).

At new Market Square, one can see that the square is neatly laid out with rows of houses of uniform height and design. The Market House was built by the King Family and over its central arch is the King coat-of-arms, with the Earl's coronet, and the inscription 'Built by George, Earl of Kingston, 1823'.

Opposite the Market House is a statue of John Mandeville, a leader of the local land league in their campaign against unfair rents. At a land league meeting in the square in 1887, police fired into an angry crowd killing three men. The exact positions where these men were shot was recorded by crosses on the pavement, beside the old Co-Operative Stores on Cork Street.

Cross, Cork Street, and walk up the steep hill towards the Catholic Church (2). The crenallated gates at the top lead to the Presentation Convent. Enter through the pedestrian gate on the left and walk to the Church. Looking down over the town from this point, it is easy to appreciate the key position of the Church.

Only the tower and spire of the original church (dated 1847) now remian. The ribbed spire is a clue to the identity of its architects - the brothers James and George Richard Pain, the renowned Cork architects. The new Church of Mary Conceived Without Sin was completed in 1980. It has a wedge shaped plan with colossal girders supporting the roof and clear glass windows directing lights towards the east end. In the sanctuary a concealed window throws a subtle lights onto the tabernacle.

Walk around the northside of the graveyard, through another pair of crenellated gates, and turn down to the square again. Turn right into Lower Cork Street (3). Lower Cork Street has many fine, traditional shopfronts, which should be noted as one walks down the street.

W. Murphy Druggist - an old chemist's hop with brass plates on the window sills was probably decorated by the same craftsman as 'Mikes' opposite. 'Murphy's' has a fine attractive interior. Turn left at the traffic lights into Baldwin Street, which is named after a land agent of the Earls of Kingston. Note the limestone flagstones on the pavement.

Walk up the street and you enter the beautiful Kings Square (4), which has one of the finest range of Georgian buldings in Ireland. Kings Square is a fine Georgian Square laid out from 1761 onwards. On the north side is Kingston College, built for elderly Protestants, and endowed by the King family.

Leave the square and walk south down George's Street, towards the Church of Ireland church at the far end. Halfway down George's Street, turn left into King Street. On the right hand side of the street is a superb shop front (5). It is brightly painted and perfectly maintained. it dates from the 1830.

Walk back to George's Street, turn left and continue towards the Church of Ireland church (6). Note the former Kingston School on your right. This is a fine four-bay house of limestone with brick details. The church dominates the vista at the south end of George's Street. Like the original Catholic Church it was designated by the Pain brothers and is typical of their work - built of limestone, with a tower and ribbed spire. Turn left along Church Street towards its junction with the main Cork road. There you can turn left and return to New Market Square, or go straight ahead across the road to Brigown Church (7). Brigown is one of the oldest sites in the neighbourhood of Mitchelstown. Fanahan founded the Abbey of Brigown in the mid-seventh century. Today only fragmentary-ruins remain.

Almost opposte the entrance to Brigown is a nrrow laneway - Mulberry Lane (8). Go up the lane until you reach the signpost pointing to St. Fanahan's Well. The name Mulberry Lane originates from the efforts of the 3rd Earl of Kingston to establish a silk industry in Mitchelstown. He is said to have planted 400,000 mulberry trees (upon silkworms feed) in the vicinity of the lane. Unfortunately, however, they all died and he abandoned the project.

Walk along the pleasant, tree - lined double ditch on your right to St. Fanahan's Well (9) The well is dedicated to St Fanahans sometimes known as St. Finnchu, the founder of the abbey at Brigown. It is an excellent example of a holy well associated with the cult of a saint. There was a strong belief in the miraculous properties of the well until the beginning of this century. (An attractive sculpture of the Saint has been erected at the South end of the town's main street).

From here you can return to your starting point by walking back to Mulberry Lane and turning right, then left back to the Catholic Church and New Market Square.

Publications.

There is a considerable amount of published material available on the history of Mitchelstown. This shortlist is primarily intended as a guide to some of what is available.