Before the development of Mitchelstown, a 7th-century settlement was established in the nearby townland of Brigown. was founded by a
monk named Fionnchú (Findchú in Old Irish), now popularly known as Saint Fanahan. By the 9th century, Brigown had a round tower (this tower was damaged in a lightning strike in 1720 and demolished in 1807). Mitchelstown itself is based at or near the site of a 13th-century Norman settlement called "Villa Michel". Unlike other landlords of the time, who had a "hands off" management style, Caroline and Robert King undertook a number of progressive projects in their Mitchelstown estate from the mid-1770s onwards. The demesne wall, reputed to be the longest park wall in Ireland, took 16 years to build. It is 10 km long, encloses 500 hectares and was originally over 3 metres in height in most places. The medieval town was demolished and replaced by the present town which is centred more to the south-east. The town was laid out in a grid pattern of two main streets intersected by a number of smaller streets. Some of its streets are named after members of the King family, namely
Robert,
George,
Edward, James, Thomas and also King (the family name). The other streets of the Georgian town are Church Street, Baldwin Street, Alley Lane, Chapel Hill, Convent Hill, King Square, New Square and Mulberry Lane. The layout established by the second and third
Earls of Kingston, between 1776 and 1830, utilised the natural features of the site to give views of the Galtee Mountains. This is best illustrated by how George Street was designed with Saint George's Arts and Heritage Centre (formerly Saint George's Church) closing the view on the southern end, and the northern view being terminated by Kingston College and Temple Hill on the Galtee Mountains.
Mitchelstown Castle was rebuilt between 1823 and 1825 by George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston. During the Irish Civil War in 1922, the castle was occupied by the Irish Republican Army. During six weeks of occupation, its contents were looted and the building was burnt on the night 12 and 13 August 1922 – ostensibly to prevent it from being used by the
Irish Free State army. However, there is no evidence to support that claim. Another motive, put forward for the fire, was to cover up the looting and destruction of the building. The ashlar limestone of the house stood as a ruin until about 1930 when it was bought by the monks of
Mount Melleray Abbey who used it to build their new monastery in County Waterford.
Mitchelstown massacre Between 1879 and 1881, and again between 1886 and 1888, local tenantry, led by
John Mandeville and
William O'Brien, MP, organised a
rent strike on the Mitchelstown Estate, then owned by Anna, Dowager Countess of Kingston and her second husband, William Downes Webber. On 9 September 1887, a protest was held later in the day in New Market Square outside the Market House where Mandeville and O'Brien were being tried. Neither man appeared in court. After the court ended, approximately 8,000 demonstrators paraded into New Square. As the speeches began from a wagon in the square, the police attempted to get an official police notetaker closer to the platform so that he could hear and record what was being said. Their motives were misunderstood, and they were held back by the crowd. They retreated, returning moments later with fifty reinforcements. This time, they fixed bayonets and used the butts of their rifles to hit horses that had been placed around the edge of the crowd to prevent their access to the wagon. In the melee that followed, hand-to-hand combat involving police being beaten with sticks and stones being thrown at them. The police retreated to their barracks, which was on a house that overlooked part of the square. As the last constable arrived at the barracks, he drew his revolver and fired a single shot into the air. This created confusion amongst the police inside the barracks, who by that time had been placed at the upstairs windows with carbine rifles. Several shots were fired into the crowd. Three men were killed and several more injured. The dead men were John Shinnick of
Fermoy, John Casey of
Kilbehenny and Michael Lonergan of
Galbally, County Limerick. The incident generated considerable international attention and became known as the "Mitchelstown Massacre". The phrase "Remember Mitchelstown" (first coined by
William Gladstone) became a rallying cry for Irishmen at home and abroad. The memorial to Mandeville that stands in Market Square was unveiled in 1906 by
William O'Brien MP. It also commemorates the names of the three men killed in 1887. ==Economy==