History

Charleville Castle

Charleville Castle, considered to be one of the finest Gothic country houses surviving in Ireland, was completed between 1800 and 1812. It was designed by Francis Johnston for the Earl of Charleville, a fitting home for one of such elegant aspirations.

It is to note that although the town had become a centre for prosperity, there was another side to the picture. Many of the back lanes of the town were inhabited by the poverty stricken, living in cabins and hastily contrived shacks. Tullamore did not escape the Great Famine of 1845 - 1849; the poorer parts of the town were so badly hit that the Kilcruttin cemetery over-reached it capacity. The Mercy Convent was built in 1838 and the Workhouse in 1841, both to administer to the needy.

The influence of the Charleville family lessened in the 1840s, shortly afterwards replaced by the rising merchant class. Commercially Tullamore expanded. P&H Egan and D.E. Williams came to the fore as general merchant businesses not only in Tullamore but also in the midlands; both firms had a large network of stores spread out throughout the region. They dealt in a wide range of products, food processing, agriculture, malting, brewing and distilling. There was much employment provided by the Goodbody Cigarette factory until its demise by fire in 1886. The Tullamore distillery business expanded in the 1870s and again in the 1900s but was closed in 1954. The biggest employer in the town from the mid 1930s until the 1970s was Salts, a spinning mill in the old jail, which provided employment for up to 1,000 people.

Since 1991 employment levels have been greatly increased by local and foreign industries. There are new hotels in the town, other recent developments and the expansion of already existing firms and outlets have all contributed to the general air of confidence and prosperity that is Tullamore Town today.

The town has evolved, grown and developed into a thriving county capital, one of the most prosperous towns in the midland, as microcosm of the effects of the Celtic tiger on Irish life. But what is the most fascinating aspect of the history of Tullamore is the steady pace of the growth, which has allowed for the retention of significant historical buildings and streetscapes.