Summerhill, Ennis

Area

112 m²

Buildings

4 buildings touch it, 193 m² on the ground

Zoning

R2 Existing Residential (Ennis and Environs) The objective

Townland

Clonroad Beg

Planning applications on this parcel

• 27 Mar 2017Refused

  for change of use of a vacant house to dental practice, the development to include internal works, the demolition of a rear extension and its replacement by a single-storey extension ( on almost the same footprint ), and all ancillary site works

  Permission · Clare County Council, 17219

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 52 recorded monuments.

• CL033-082 Historic town
  Description

  Situated on the River Fergus, Ennis was founded in the early 13th century AD upon the arrival of the O’Briens, formerly the kings of Munster, when they were compelled to surrender Limerick to the Anglo-Normans and move westwards into the territory of Thomond. They initially built earthen strongholds or ringworks at Clonroad c. 1210 and c. 1267 (CL033-085005- and CL033-085006-) about 1km to the E at an existing fording point on the river with a tower house constructed there about 1470 (Ó Dálaigh 1987, 28) (CL033-085001-) and a large mansion attached by 1558 (CL033-085002-). Around 1240 the Franciscans were invited to establish a monastery close to Clonroad. The Friary (CL033-082001-) was built on high ground at ‘Inis’, meaning an island (in this case formed by a secondary channel of the river) in about 1270. The Friary and the castle were linked by a causeway as much of the surrounding area was liable to flooding. Over the following centuries Ennis grew with the Friary providing a focus for a market and the river providing a channel of communication. A period of prosperity in the 15th century saw the expansion of the town with a small castle (CL033-082007-) and gatehouse (CL033-082033-) built at the southern end. No defensive walls were built at Ennis, possibly because the natural island afforded enough protection or perhaps because there was an insufficient volume of trade. The O’Brien stronghold at Clonroad protected the eastern approach to the town. A small castle (CL033-082035-), between the west doorway of the Friary and the river, protected a quay (CL033-082048-) where boats docked to land their cargoes. In 1543 Murchadh O’Briain recognised the sovereignty of the king of England and accepted the title of earl of Thomond. By the end of the century the English had effectively established control and the dissolved Friary became the centre of English government with a court held there and a portion used as a prison. Two stone houses (CL033-082008-) were erected opposite the Friary c. 1577 for the reception of important visitors, one of which later became known as ‘the earl of Thomond’s house’. In 1600, at the height of the Nine Years War, it is recorded that Hugh O’Donnell of Tyrconnell, with a view to weakening the O’Brien power base, plundered and burned large portions of Clare including the entire town of Ennis except for the Friary which he chose to spare. The end of that war in 1603 lead to a period of stability and in 1610 the earl of Thomond was granted a patent for a Tuesday market and two annual fairs at Ennis. The market was held where three streets meet in the centre of the town, now known as ‘The Square’. A two-storey market-house (CL033-082012-), arched on the ground floor for the use of market traders and serving also as a courthouse upstairs, had been built at this location by 1641 and a market cross (CL033-082032-) existed there until 1711. The status of the town was further enhanced in 1613 when it received a charter. Twelve burgesses and a provost formed a self-governing body with the power to elect two members of parliament. A map of ‘Ennis Abbey Meadow’ by land surveyor Henry Ellsworth in 1634 shows a street layout much as it is today while a sketch by Thomas Dineley in 1681 is indicative of a similar layout. An account of the town in 1682 by the attorney Hugh Brigdall reveals that Ennis at that time consisted of 120 houses, 12 of which were slated, the rest being thatched. The number of inhabitants was 500-600. In 1703 cartographer Thomas Moland produced a pictorial map of Ennis showing the basic street pattern with several one- and two-storey houses and a new bridge (CL033-082014-) close to the Friary. This bridge opened the northern end of the town and the Friary precinct to through traffic. Many of the existing houses in the town are likely to be 17th century in origin and Bradley, Halpin and King (1988, 51) state that all of Chapel Lane is most probably of this date. A definite 17th-century date has been established for a number of houses such as McParland’s (CL033-082005-) with its gable dated to c. 1600 (Coyne 2012) and some internal timbers dated to 1672. Cruise’s (CL033-082002-) has an intact west gable and datestone of 1658 and houses on all three main streets have Jacobean-style chimneys (CL033-082003-, CL033-082004- and CL033-082006-). Two other 17th-century houses, George Stacpoole’s and James McNamara’s (CL033-082010- and CL033-082030-) are known from existing inscribed stone plaques. Lenthall’s Inn (CL033-082009-) is depicted as having stood at the square on Dineley’s drawing and dates from 1681. There are references to many monuments of interest in Ennis in 16th- and 17th-century historical sources although their precise locations are unknown. Fish weirs on the River Fergus (CL033-082050- and CL033-082051-) are noted in 1570 and 1585. In 1685 two ‘Mills of Inish’ are recorded (CL033-138001- and CL033-138002-) although earlier mills (CL033-082049-) are known to be associated with the Friary c. 1570. The establishment of a prison (CL033-082013-) in 1591 is cited with one Patrick Morgan appointed jailer and there is reference to another prison (CL033-082052-) under construction in 1642. Gallows (CL033-082007-) are known to have existed in Old Barrack Street North in 1674 and there were stocks (CL033-082052-) somewhere on O’Connell Street in 1682 with a pair of stocks erected in 1699. Schools are referred to in 1666 (CL033-082043-) and 1681 (CL033-082044-), known as John Stretch’s and Dr. Cargill’s respectively and a bakery (CL033-082045-) under the name Ellen Meagh is noted in 1674. (Ó Murchadha 1984, 65-8; Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 44-6; Ua Cróinín and Breen 1992; Ó Dálaigh 1986; 1987; 1992; 2012) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 16 September 2014

• CL033-082001 Religious house - Franciscan friars
  Description

  Situated in the centre of Ennis Historic Town (CL033-082----) on what was formerly an island formed by the River Fergus. The Franciscans were invited to establish a monastery here c. AD 1240 c. 1km W of Clonroad Castle (CL033-085001-). While the earliest dwellings were most likely temporary, the defeat of the Anglo-Normans at Clare Castle (CL041-089----) in 1270 allowed Toirrdelach Mór Ó Briain of Clonroad the opportunity to construct a more permanent building for the friars at Ennis. An ornate friary in the Gothic style was constructed consisting of a long nave and chancel with a window of five tall lancets in the E gable. Construction continued into the 14th century with the refectory and sacristy added by Matha Caoch MacNamara in 1349 (O'Neill 2009, 315). During a period of great prosperity in the 15th century the friary was substantially rebuilt including the addition of a cloister garth to the N, c. 1470, an ornate transept built onto the southern wall of the nave and a bell tower inserted between the nave and chancel. The friary was dissolved in 1543 but remained open until 1570. For a time it was used as a law court and prison. Following a royal visitation in 1615 it was decided that the friary church be renovated and used for Protestant worship. A secure gateway, known in the 18th century as ‘the great gate of the abbey of St Francis’ sealed off the friary from the rest of the urban settlement. This is visible on Hewett’s map of 1736 and is mentioned in the Registry of Deeds in 1763 and 1783. The church was closed in 1871 and the Protestant congregation moved to a new church. The ruins were formally handed over to the Franciscan Order in 1969. In 2011-12 the nave was re-roofed and the windows glazed by the Office of Public Works and the ‘Royal tomb’ (CL033-082015-) was moved from the chancel into the nave to prevent further weathering. The ruined remains consist of the church (L c. 44m; Wth c. 9m) with S transept and parts of the E, N and W ranges of the cloister to the N (see plan in Westropp 1895, 139). The walls (H c. 10m) and gables (c. 15m) stand to their original height. The S wall of the chancel has three windows with double lights, a fourth with three lights and a fifth, originally a twin-light but blocked by the insertion of the crossing-tower. There is a double piscina in the E corner divided by a central pier and the Inchiquin tomb (CL033-082017-) partially blocks the second window from the E. A 17th-century memorial to the Woulfe family (CL033-082027-) is further west on the S wall. The N wall of the chancel, which is plastered, has a round-arched doorway with flattened rear-arch opening to the sacristy. A window near the crossing-tower is partly blocked up but may originally have had three lights. The 19th-century Creagh tomb is at the E end (the Royal Tomb ((CL033-082015-)), portions of which were formerly incorporated into the Creagh tomb has now been moved into the nave). Also on this N wall is a memorial to the McNamara family (CL033-082022-). The E gable of the chancel has a splayed, pointed, five-light window (H c. 11m). The three central lights, included in one splay, are divided by unusually light chamfered mullions and the mouldings on the window are quite simple. There is a small flat-arched rectangular window in the gable above the E window. The N wall of the nave has been much altered since the 13th century. An original double-lancet window was blocked by the insertion of the tower and a second double lancet close to the tower has a pointed rear-arch. It is set high in the wall and its sloping sill is intact. A small single-light window is inserted beneath with a 17th-century (Kerin) memorial inserted above (CL033-082020-). There are four shallow 15th-century sedilia with pointed canopies in the E end of the wall but they are either damaged, partly blocked or have later memorials inserted into them. The Considine and O’Hehir memorials (CL033-082025-, CL033-082019-) are on this N wall. Two large pointed windows were inserted into the wall at a later period and close to the W end there is a modern blocked door visible on the external wall-face. The S wall has a single-light ogee-headed window behind the W support of the tower and two large pointed arches open to the S transept. W of the transept is a sedilia and there is an inserted doorway close to the W end with an upside-down face as an external stop. A second Considine memorial (CL033-082021-) is to be found on the external wall-face just outside this door to the E. A large single-light pointed window similar to those on the N wall is inserted in the W end of the S wall. The W wall has a triple-light window below which is a round-arched doorway. A crossing-tower of four floors was inserted in the 15th century. It has a high groined vault over the crossing and was rebuilt from the top of the second floor in the 18th century when crenellations and corner pinnacles were added. The first floor was accessed from the E range of the cloister and from the wall-walk of the S transept. Under the crossing tower is a screen of flamboyant tracery with carved panels which may have been part of an ornate tomb (CL033-082016-). In a niche on a pier of the tower is a carved image of St. Francis carrying a cross-staff and showing the stigmata on the side, hands and feet. The S transept, known also as the ‘Lady Chapel’ or ‘Michael Chapel’, consists of an aisle with three chapels on the E side. The chapels were covered by vaults supported on rectangular pillars. There are three windows in the E wall, the two over the central and southern chapels are pointed with three rounded lights and switchline tracery above while the northern one is ogee-headed with cusped quatrefoil tracery. The S wall has two large triple-lights with switchline tracery above. The S chapel had a double piscina with two small rectangular basins. An arch between the nave and transept bears an image of ‘Christ's Pity' or 'Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)’. The hands are bound and tokens of the crucifixion are arranged about. A sacristy built of roughly coursed rubble limestone with dressed quoins is situated to the N of the chancel. The barrel-vaulted ground floor is of 13th century date while the first and second floors were probably added in the 15th century. It is unroofed and the W wall of the ground floor is missing. The E wall has a pointed twin-light window and a round-arched doorway at the N end leads to a tower added to the NE angle in the 15th century. There are four round-arched recesses in the N wall and three in the S. Modern access to the first floor is via a stairs which has been built onto the N wall of the church. At first-floor level the E gable survives to 5m and has a tall mullioned and transomed rectangular window, possibly 17th century. A door opened from the N end to the tower. A row of corbels in the N wall indicate the former existence of a second floor. The tower, accessed from the NE angle contains a narrow chamber with a pointed vault at ground-floor level, badly lit by a flat lintelled slit in the E wall. Another small chamber to the W is barrel vaulted and also badly lit from the S by two narrow slits. There is a small wall-cupboard in the W wall and a fireplace in the W end of the N wall. The first floor is accessed from the first floor of the sacristy and is lit by a small rectangular window at E. The W wall has a single-light ogee-headed window and there were windows in the N and S walls also. Of the cloister, the foundations and some of the columns survive and part of the W and N arcade have been rebuilt. The roofing line for the S and N ambulatory can been seen in the S wall of the north range and on the N wall of the nave. Only the N and E wall of the ground floor and part of the first floor of the narrow two-storeyed E range remain. The E wall has an opening and a twin-light ogee-headed window at the N end and a single-light window at the S end. The N wall has a wide splayed b

• CL033-082002 House - 17th century
  Description

  Situated on the E side of Abbey Street within Ennis historic town (CL033-082----). A three-storeyed house of three bays, divided into two houses in the 18th century. Extensively altered and in commercial use but simple plaster cornices of late 17th/18th century survive. The W gable is intact together with its coping stones and the stone eves course can be seen behind the modern gutters along the front wall. The W chimney stack may be hidden under modern cement. A rectangular plaque on the front wall bears an inscription in relief. The inscription reads ‘This house was built in the yeare of Our Lord God 1658 by John Cruce'. (Ó Dálaigh 1987, 14; 2012, 24; Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 49; RPS Ennis 2013, 50) CL033-082002-_01.jpg and CL033-082002-_02.jpg attached. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 29 April 2014

• CL033-082003 House - 16th/17th century
  Description

  Situated at 31-35 Abbey Street at the corner of Francis Street in Ennis town (CL033-082----). A terrace of rendered stone houses with an early 17th century double-diamond Jacobean chimney stack in the S gable. Divided into three shop units with 19th and 20th century shopfronts. The houses were re-roofed c. 1990 but the line of the original steep-pitched roof can be seen below the chimney stacks. (Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 50; RPS Ennis 2013, 56) CL033-082003-_01.jpg and CL033-082003-_02.jpg attached. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 8 May 2014

• CL033-082004 House - 16th/17th century
  Description

  Situated at 24-26 O’Connell Street between Quin’s Bow and Cook’s Lane within Ennis Historic town (CL033-082----). These two two-storey buildings with dormer attics, now occupied by Maurer’s Jewellers and Brogan’s Public House were probably originally one house similar to Cruise’s on Abbey Street (CL033-082002-) with chimney stacks in each gable. One triple row, Jacobean-style, early 17th-century chimney stack is visible on the S gable of Maurer’s. The other two are cemented over. The façade was remodelled in the 19th century. (Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 51; RPS Ennis 2013) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 13 May 2014

• CL033-082005 House - 16th/17th century
  Description

  Situated at no. 18 Parnell Street, at the junction of Parnell Street and Chapel Lane in Ennis historic town (CL033-082----). Known as ‘McParland’s’, as so named on the late 19th-century shopfront, this two-storey house with dormer attic in private ownership was discovered in 2008 to be in an unstable condition. Modification to the shop in the 19th century had resulted in the structural failure over time of the gable wall and its diagonally set Jacobean chimney. It was proposed to dismantle and re-build the chimney cap, to remove the gable wall and chimney breast and to rebuild them. In order to facilitate the programme of restoration the dismantling of the chimney cap and breast was archaeologically monitored under licence (11E0377) (Coyne 2012). Excavations preceding the reconstruction were conducted on the ground floor of the interior (also under licence 11E3077). These revealed at least five periods of use for the fireplace, the earliest dating to the construction of the gable around AD 1600. The original dimensions of the fireplace were 1.9m N-S and 1m in depth and it was floored with small rounded cobbles. The fireplace became progressively smaller during several later reconstructions. The body of the house has thick walls (c. 0.9m) with very large horizontal (0.25m x 0.2m) oak beams and vertical oak standards in the S and W walls. Some of these timbers were dendrochronologically dated to 1672 (Ó Dálaigh 2012, 24). The house was home to Harriet Smithson, wife of Hector Berlioz in the 19th century. Timbers in the attic revealed a probable dormer window to the rear and a light door to the adjoining attic of house no. 20 shows that the two originally formed one house (Ua Cróinín 2012, 71-4). House no. 24-6 (CL033-082006-) has a similar Jacobean chimney and is of similar date. (Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 51) CL033-082005-_01.jpg and CL033-082005-_02.jpg attached. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 5 March 2014

• CL033-082006 House - 16th/17th century
  Description

  Situated at no. 24-26 Parnell Street, in Ennis historic town (CL033-082----), next door to the 17th century house known as McParland’s (CL033-082005-). This house has a similar Jacobean chimney to that at McParland’s indicating remnants of earlier fabric. (Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 51) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 16 April 2014

• CL033-082007 Castle - tower house
  Description

  A 15th/16th-century tower house within the Old Ground Hotel complex in Ennis historic town (CL033-082----). Referred to in the Calendar of State Papers (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1509-73, 432) as ‘The Inche’. In 1574 the earl of Thomond was named as the owner of the castles of Clonrawde (CL033-085001-), Clare (CL041-089----) and Inish (Twigge 1910, 75-85). A rectangular structure (7.5m x 5.2m; wall T at base 1.2-1.5m) with other walls of similar thickness radiating out from it. Originally three or four-storeyed but only extant to first-floor level and mostly hidden by modern plaster and wall board dating to renovations done in the 1960s. The original masonry appears to consist of large blocks of evenly coursed limestone. The vaulted ground floor is much altered and in use as store-rooms, staff dining and reception areas and its original plan is difficult to ascertain. It had a fireplace that is now blocked up. At first-floor level there is a barrel-vaulted room. The E wall is stepped 0.7m below the vault creating a ledge (Wth 0.15m). Towards the W of the vault is a line of wall in the roof plaster (Wth 0.6m) indicating a former division within the room. It was lit towards the E end of the S wall by a segmental-headed window under the vault. The window is slightly splayed and the rear arch is flat lintelled although the vault has a pointed arch above the window. A similar but smaller pointed arch occurs towards the W end of this wall and there is a wide modern door beneath it. The W wall has a wide, flat-arched, modern, wooden-framed door in the centre. There is another flat lintelled opening at the W end of the N wall and two double-splayed modern openings to the E. Above the more easterly opening is a pointed arch set into the vault similar to that in the S wall which may indicate a larger original window in this position. A large carved fireplace, dated 1553, from Leamaneh Castle (CL016-032002-) has been set into the centre of the E wall. As no stairway is extant it is clear that the tower house was originally part of a larger complex. Adjacent buildings include vestiges of a gatehouse (CL033-082033-) and an 18th-century prison later used as a town hall. (Twigge 1910, 75-85; Bradley, Halpin and King 1988, 80-81; Ua Cróinín and Breen 1987, 46-7; 1992, 5-7; Ó Dálaigh 2012, 15; RPS 2013, 112) CL033-082007-_01.jpg and CL033-082007-_02.jpg attached. Compiled by: Mary Tunney The attached document (CL033-082007-_01.pdf ) containing details from 'The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare' (unpublished report), has been uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. Date of upload: 11 December 2014

• CL033-082008 Castle - tower house
  Description

  Situated on Abbey Street within Ennis historic town (CL033-082----). One of two stone houses erected c. 1577 between Ennis Friary (CL033-082001-) and the S-N river Fergus c. 30m to the W for the reception of guests. One of these houses became known as the ‘Earl of Thomond’s’ house. In 1672 a small turret in Ennis together with a boat-slip ‘parcel of the late Abbey of Ennis’ was leased to Donough O’Brien of Leamaneh. In 1682 it is referred to as the ‘old decaying house of the earl of Thomond’. In his will of 1717 Donough bequeathed the ‘castle of Ennis’ to his grandson, Edward O’Brien of Dromoland. A castle on the riverside close to the Franciscan friary was removed c. 1835 when some of its stones may have been used to build the Club Bridge (CL033-082014-) c. 100m to the N, although no medieval stone is visible in the bridge. Remnants of the castle were noted in April 2013 in the rear return of a house on Abbey Street in an Environmental Impact Statement connected with the Fergus River flood relief scheme. The two-storey return (ext. dims. 9.75m E-W; 7m N-S) has thick walls (T 1.35m). On the ground floor a window high in the W wall is probably in an original embrasure for a small light, and a segmental-arched embrasure in the same wall (now blocked) could contain a fireplace (pers. comm. R. Ua Cróinín and F. Coyne, SMR file). (Frost 1893; Ó Dálaigh 2012, 2, 15, 24) Compiled by: Mary Tunney See attached document with details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. Date of upload: 11 December 2014

• CL033-082009 Inn
  Description

  Situated at O’Connell Square within Ennis historic town (CL033-082----). A depiction by Thomas Dineley in 1681 shows Lenthall’s Inn as a large two-storey building of four bays with dormer windows in the roof and a chimney stack on the S gable and names it ‘Lenthall’s, the chief inn’ (Ó Dálaigh 2012, 4). John Lenthall, innkeeper, is mentioned in the Manor Court Rolls in 1674 (ibid., 20) and a John Lenthall, vintner, is named in a new charter issued for Ennis dated 1687 (ibid., 5). This is one of four recorded inns in Ennis in the 17th century and the only one with a known location although one was in an unknown location on the present Parnell Street. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 13 May 2014

And 42 more.

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

Download this parcel: DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its neighbours and buildings, for a drawing program; GeoJSON, in WGS 84, for a map.

Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. A parcel is the land of a title, not an address. The owner's name is in the Land Registry of Tailte Éireann: a copy of the folio can be ordered on landdirect.ie, for a fee.