Stop 8: Clonegam Church
In
Irish, Cluain na gCam means the meadow or bog island of the bends or windings.
There is no trace of the ancient church that was there before the present
Protestant one was built in 1741 by the Lord Viscount Tyrone. Notice the tomb
outside which houses about twenty marquis from the Poer and Beresford families. The
building is symmetrical, floored with marble, and elegantly fitted in
wainscotting, ceiling, altarpiece and pulpit. A new roof was put on in 1893 when
the historian P.M. Egan visited Waterford and the county.
The original Church of Clonegam, which the present building
replaced, was originally the main house of worship within the parish of
Clonegam, Guileagh and Mothel.
There is
a catacomb in which three Malcomsons are buried. Inside there is a marble statue
of a lady with her infant which is the work of Boehm dated about 1873.
It was built in memory of Lady Florence Grosvenor, first wife of the
fifth Marquis, who died with her baby.
To the left at the top of the church, is the splendid work of art raised to the memory of Sir Marcus Beresford, Earl of Tyrone, and Catherine, Countess, by whose marriage the baronies of Beresford and le Poer were united. This is the first of the Beresfords.
There is a big clock there and it was built in England. At
the steps there is a footprint from a goat and it is meant to be haunted.
Recently, there were new windows put in because drunk vandals broke them.
Services are rarely held there now. There was a funeral service for one of Lord
Waterford’s relatives, recently and a baptismal service for Lily de Poer
Beresford, the baby daughter of James and Ann.
