Clonmines is acivil parish andtownland in theBannow Bay area ofCounty Wexford,[1]Ireland, the site of "the finest example in Ireland of adesertedmedieval borough".[2] It is situated in thebarony ofShelburne, southwest ofWellingtonbridge on the northwest shore of Bannow Bay.[3] The parish of Clonmines contains the townland of the same name and the smaller townland of Arklow,[4] with respective areas of 1,258 acres (509 ha) and 127 acres (51 ha).[5][6]
There is evidence of aNorse-Gaelic settlement in Bannow in general and Clonmines in particular.[7] In the early thirteenth century, after theNorman conquest of Ireland, a borough and port was established at Clonmines byWilliam Marshal.[7][8] Colfer suggests that Marshal chose the site in spite of its shallow harbour and poor hinterland, to offer a sheltered winter port alternative toNew Ross.[9] After the partition of Marshal's Lordship ofLeinster around 1249, Clonmines was a detachedmanor of theliberty ofKildare.[10]
It was a notable town with aprovost andbailiff in the fourteenth century, and still considered a town in the sixteenth.[11] In 1552, kingEdward VI funded a scheme to mine silver in nearby Barrystown, which was abandoned after five months.[12] The name "Clonmines" predates these mines;[13] its origin is uncertain.[1]Herbert F. Hore in 1859 suggested the IrishCluainmain "Ecclesiastical retreat on the plains".[13]
Patrick Weston Joyce in 1913 suggestedCluain-mín, meaning "smooth meadow".[14] T. C. Butler in 1986 suggestedCloch-Maighean, "a stone enclosure around the dwelling of a chief".[15]
Colfer suggests that Clonmines's isolation from the rest of Kildare, and competition from New Ross, contributed to its decline.[10]Sandbars had rendered the port unnavigable by the 17th century.[13] The site was subsequently deserted, and no record exists of anycharter.[16] Although Clonmines remains a civil parish, in 1785 theChurch of Ireland parish was united byWalter Cope,Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, with those ofTintern and Owenduff to form the Union of Owen Duff.[17]
Clonmines Borough was arotten borough represented in theIrish House of Commons, which shared the same burgesses as nearbyBannow andFethard. It was disfranchised in 1801 when under theAct of Union 1800 with £15,000 compensation paid to theMarquess of Ely in compensation in respect of each of these.[18] A report into boroughs in Ireland in 1833 found "there is no house at or near the place, except Mr Sutton's ... the population of what was once the borough [consisted] of merely the family of this gentleman".[16]
A 1684 account describes the ruins of a church, an abbey, and "4 or 5 ruined Castles"; in the nineteenth century, "the seven castles of Clonmines" were still proverbial, although only some still had visible remains.[3][13] Colfer in 2004 characterised the remains as twotower houses, one incorporated into a more modern dwelling; a fortified seventeenth-century house; the parish church ofSaint Nicholas; another fortified church; and the Augustinian priory.[8][10] The poorer people's buildings of wood and clay have disappeared. Excavations have revealed traces of the medieval defensive ramparts. The site is private property and not open to the public.[2]
52°15′40″N6°45′57″W / 52.261013°N 6.765701°W /52.261013; -6.765701 (Clonmines Castle ruins)[19]