Hospital Street lives on

Sign of the times in Templemore

Mission accomplished on Sunday, February 22, when another piece of Templemore Heritage was completed by unveiling the newly erected sign on Hospital Street.

This was the final part of the local Heritage Project undertaken by Ronan Loughnane and Templemore Heritage Committee over the past couple of years. Ronan never liked any unfinished business, so it was very fitting that the community of Templemore rallied around once more and organised the unveiling of the Hospital Street Sign on McAuley Centre outer wall.

Fr Conor Hayes spoke on behalf of the parish community and welcomed the large crowd that attended after Mass to witness the unveiling of the sign by his mother, Anne. Ronan has spoken so many times in the recent past about the values held by local communities when required – this was just another piece of Ronan’s jigsaw to be completed. It is worth noting an article in the Tipperary Star in June 2024 where Ronan wrote an article on the history of Hospital Street. Now the name of the street is proudly displayed on the outer wall of McAuley Centre.

Attention was drawn recently to the fact that the Sacred Heart Church has applied for planning permission to build new toilets at the back of the church.

The address given on the planning application is Hospital Road, which has led to some curiosity amongst locals.

SO, HERE’S THE STORY:

The present Catholic Church, which opened in 1883, was built on the site of the former Erasmus Smith school, which opened its doors to pupils in 1810.

The deeds of that school say that the west-facing building was “bound on the West by the Monck Street wall”. To date this is the only reference we have to Monck Street, which relates to the Monck family who lived in Richmond.

Charles Stanley Monck, born in Richmond in 1819, became the first Governor-General of Canada in 1867. The Irish Hospital Archives refer to a Fever hospital opening in Templemore in 1825, which was located between the McAuley Centre and Tigh Mhuire.

By the mid-1840s the Griffiths Valuation House Books refer to it as Hospital Street showing 11 houses, a Dispensary and a Fever Hospital, meaning somewhere in between the name was changed. The Cancelled Books from the 1860s onwards always referred to it as Hospital Street and a closer examination of these shows that the Sisters of Mercy had acquired all the buildings on the street by c1890.

As the Sisters of Mercy were recorded on Mary Street for the 1901 and 1911 Census there were now no residents on Hospital Street, explaining its absence from both Census.

We had to wait until the Voluntary Housing Scheme was completed in 2002 to welcome residents back to Hospital Street. It is very important to note that the name of the street has never changed and until such time as it is given a new name in an official capacity, Hospital Street lives on.