Charleville Heritage Society

11/06/2026

Did You Know? Charleville Once Had Its Own Tennis Pavilion and Lawn Tennis Club!
This post is part of the local history series by Evelyn O'Keeffe genealogists and local historian.

Long before Charleville Golf Club occupied its present home on Smith's Road, the grounds echoed to a very different sound, the hitting of tennis balls on grass courts.
Founded in 1932, The Revels Lawn Tennis Club became one of the town's most popular social and sporting venues.
The club's pavilion and courts occupied the site that would later become Charleville Golf Club.

During the 1930s and early 1940s, lawn tennis enjoyed enormous popularity throughout Ireland.
In Charleville and its surrounding district, Lawn tennis was often associated with local houses and estates such as Belfort, Knightslodge, Ardmacree, Sanders Park, and Moatville.
One of the sport's greatest attractions was that it was enjoyed by both men and women at a time when few sports offered such opportunities.
Yet by 1944, The Revels Lawn Tennis Club had disappeared. Why?
The answer may lie in the difficult years of "The Emergency" (1939–1945). Although Ireland remained neutral during the Second World War, everyday life was greatly affected. Petrol shortages restricted travel, imported sporting equipment became difficult to obtain, and many families faced economic hardship.

Interestingly, surviving photographs show that tennis remained popular locally into the 1950s. In later decades Charleville would once again see tennis courts established, including the three courts at the junction of Baker's Lane on the Kilmallock Road. Sadly, these too would eventually close

During the 1980s tennis enjoyed a huge revival worldwide thanks to television coverage of Wimbledon and stars such as Becker, Navratilova, Graf, Agassi, and Sampras. Many of the tennis courts that appeared around Irish towns in the 1970s and 1980s were built during this boom period, when tennis was one of the most fashionable participation sports in the country.
Today, little remains to remind us of Charleville's tennis heritage, but for over a decade The Revels Lawn Tennis Club provided recreation, competition, friendship, and community spirit to generations of local people.

Do any of our followers remember these courts or have family photographs connected with tennis in Charleville or surrounding villages? We'd love to hear your stories and see your photographs.

Image below of The Revels Pavilion to the left of the Charleville Golf house of 1948,it can be seen in the background beside the cars.

10/06/2026

A little bit of local history coming up today
on the Leaving Cert History Paper .

- Document B -

This is an edited extract from an account of a visit by Archbishop T.W. Croke to Charleville, Co. Cork, in July, 1887.

A notable feature of the occasion was the presence of half a dozen branches of the Gaelic Athletic Association of which his Grace, the Archbishop, is a patron. The men were dressed in the uniforms of their clubs and carried their hurleys on their shoulders. They presented a formidable appearance. Everyone was struck by the discipline with which they preserved their order of two abreast, and carried out to the letter the commands of their captains.

'The Association has progressed amazingly in a short time, with branches over the length and breadth of Ireland,' the Archbishop declared. 'At one time I feared three disastrous outcomes,' he revealed, 'bad blood (fighting), drink and the neglect of Sunday worship. But my fears have, for the most part, proved groundless. No angry blows are struck by the contestants. Drink has been taken at meetings, sometimes rather freely, but nowhere to any notable excess. And the young athletes always hear Sunday Mass.'

Then a procession formed, headed by a brass band. The hurlers formed up in line and marched before the Archbishop's carriage. Almost every house was decorated with evergreens and flags. Overall, Charleville presented a spectacle of festivity and rejoicing.

Source: The Freeman's Journal (26 July, 1887).

03/06/2026

Tomorrow, Thursday Evening - Don't miss it!

JUNE TALK ON THE PALLADIAN REVIVAL
Charleville Heritage Society will hold a talk on this Thursday 4th June at 7.30pm at the Charleville Park Hotel. This very interesting talk will be delivered by Right Rev. Monsignor James O’Brien, P.P. Ballyhea, who will speak on the Ecclesiastical Architect, Brother Michael Augustine Riordan and the Palladian Revival in early 19th Century Munster. Admission is as usual €5 and all are welcome.
This will be the Society’s final talk before the break for the summer months. Talks will resume again in September.

01/06/2026

The Heartbeat of the Town: The Family Grocer
Before supermarkets, loyalty cards, and self-service checkouts, there was the local family grocer.
This is part of the local history series by local historian and genealogist Evelyn O’Keeffe.

These small shops were far more than places to buy bread, tea, or sugar they were the lifeblood of towns and villages across Ireland. For generations, they stood at the centre of community life, where neighbours met, news was exchanged, and everyone knew everyone else's name.

In towns such as Charleville, many businesses specialised in serving local needs. There were dedicated bakers, greengrocers, drapers, and butchers. Yet some families wore many hats. It was not unusual to find a grocer who was also a publican, and in some cases even an undertaker. Ryan's on Main Street was one such establishment, serving the community through every stage of life.

Long before the phrase "buy now, pay later" entered modern advertising, local shopkeepers were quietly extending credit to trusted customers. Known locally as "the tick," it allowed families to take home essential goods and settle their account when wages arrived. It was a system built not on contracts, but on trust.
The local grocer knew every customer by name, knew their family, and often knew their story. These businesses became woven into the fabric of community life, with many sustaining the same families through generation after generation.

As chain supermarkets began to spread across Ireland from the 1980s onwards, many of these small family run shops faced an uncertain future. Yet their legacy remains. They were places of commerce, certainly, but also places of friendship, trust, and community spirit.
Do you remember your local grocer? What shop did your family use, and who was behind the counter? Share your memories below.

Here are a list of Charleville town grocers from old trade directories ,1914 back to 1824

1914 Charleville Trade directory
Grocers.(*also Vintners.)
*Ball Henry, Main st.
*Bennett P, Main st.
*Binchy Owen & Son, Main st
*Burke Corns, Main st.
Cagney Ed, Main st.
*Carroll James, Main st
*Carroll Mary, Main st.Miss
*Casey Mary. Main ctrpnt
Creagh J, Main St.
Geary Michael, Main st.
*Henchy Mrs, Broad st.
Hurley M & Sons, Main st.
*Leo James, Main st.
* Lyons Patrick, Main st.
*Madden Mrs, - Main st.
*Miller C Main st.
*Moran Hannah, Main st.
*Mortell J, Charleville
*O'Connor J R, Main st.
*O'Flaherty E, Broad st.
*O'Flaherty John P, Main st
O'Shaughnessy J J
*O'Riordan Mrs, Broad st.
Riordan Mrs T J, Clanchy st.
*Ryan Edmond, Main st.
*Sheehan Mary, Main-st.
*Troy Christopher, Main st.
Tobacconists shops
Benchy Owen, Main st
Cronin Timothy, Main st
Synan Maurice, Main st
Troy John, Main st

Provision Dealers.
Cagney Mrs, Main st.
Cleary Mrs, Smiths lane
Kelleher D, Main st.
Kennedy M, Main st.
Mortell James, Main st.
Murphy Mrs, Smiths lane
O'Gorman Miss, Main st.
O’Shaughnessy J J
O’Sullivan Thos, Smiths lane
Wilkinson Miss, Main st.

Commercial Directory of Charleville 1870

Grocers & Spirit Dealers
Ball Johanna, Main st
Barke Thomas, Main st
Collins John, Main st
Daly John, Main st
Denison Thomas, Main st
Froy John, Main st
Gorman Denis, Main st
Hanley John, Main st
Hinchy Edmund, Broad st
Leahy John, Broad st
McCarthy Thomas, Broad st
Madigan Ann, Main st
Murphy John, Main st
O'Connor William, Main st
Binchy Eugene,Main st
Prendergast John, Main st
Rea Thomas, Broad st
Synan Maurice, Main st
Woods William, Main st
Chane James, Main st
Copley William, Main st
Cronin Michael, Main st
Mortel John, Main st
Reardon Robert, Main st
Tobacconists
Benchy Owen, Main st
Cronin Timothy, Main st
Synan Maurice, Main st
Troy John, Main st

Commercial directory of Ireland in 1846,Charleville town.

Grocers & Spirit dealers
Athern Owen, Main st
Ball John, Main st
Cleary James, Main st
Hartigan David, Main st
Lynch Ellen, Main st
O’Connell Mary, Main st
O’Connell Thomas, Main st
O'Sullivan John, Main st
Shopkeepers & Dealers in Sundries
Armstrong James, Main st
Ashton William, Main st
Kirby John. Main st
McCarthy Owen, Smith's lane
Sanders Mary, Main st
Sullivan John, Main st

Tobacconists
Barry James, Main st
Daly Pactick, Main st
Hanrahan Michael, Main st

Pigot & Co's Provincial Directory of Ireland 1824
Shopkeepers in Charleville Town
Carmody Michael, shopkeeper
Connelly Daniel, tobacconist
Graham Patrick, grocer
Hogan Michael, shopkeeper
Lynch Cornelius,dealer
Lynch David, merchant
O'Brien Daniel, tobacconist
O'Connell Richd. grocer
O'Connor Wm. grocer
Quin C. general dealer
Sanders Mary, grocer draper and spirit
Sarshield Michl, grocer, draper
Vaughan Jas. grocer & spirit dealer
Walsh E. general dealer

Image below
Ryan 's Public house once stood where the entrance to Dunnes Stores on Main Street is now.It was demolished to make the entrance to dunnes stores pedestrian entrance.
In the list of residents for main street in 1920s we had E.C Ryan ,E.Ryan and D.Ryan.
Ryan’s also owned an Undertakers.
This photo again was taken about 1920s/ 1930s.

29/05/2026

JUNE TALK ON THE PALLADIAN REVIVAL

Charleville Heritage Society will hold a talk on this Thursday 4th June at 7.30pm at the Charleville Park Hotel. This very interesting talk will be delivered by Right Rev. Monsignor James O’Brien, P.P. Ballyhea, who will speak on the Ecclesiastical Architect, Brother Michael Augustine Riordan and the Palladian Revival in early 19th Century Munster. Admission is as usual €5 and all are welcome.

This will be the Society’s final talk before the break for the summer months. Talks will resume again in September.

22/05/2026

A Family intertwined in Charleville’s Social History.
Part of the Charleville Local History Series by Evelyn O’Keeffe, genealogist and local historian.

Few families capture the changing social history of Charleville quite like "The Kellehers".
From public houses and dressmaking to grocery shops and the town’s early telephone exchange, the family became woven into everyday life in the town for generations.
David Kelleher was a publican at The Terrace, Charleville, while the Kelleher family also operated two adjoining premises on Main Street from the 1920s onwards, on the site now occupied by Supermacs and previously Harnetts Garage.
David’s sisters, Norah and Minnie, were also involved in business life , Norah as a shopkeeper and Minnie as a dressmaker,while his brother Michael later took over the family shop.

Their nephew, David Francis Kelleher, would become one of the most interesting figures connected to the premises. Over the years he was listed as a draper’s assistant, merchant trader, shopkeeper, auctioneer’s clerk and even operator of the Charleville telephone exchange. In 1922 he married Mary O’Callaghan of Pruntus, Ballyhea, in Dublin.

In an era before nearly every home had a telephone, the local exchange was at the centre of town life. Calls did not happen automatically,every connection passed through a human operator, often young local women known as “exchange girls.” One such operator recorded in the 1926 census was Norah Forrest of Newline South.
A caller would simply lift the receiver and ask: “Charleville Exchange, connect me to Mallow please.”
The operator would physically connect the call using cords on a switchboard. Through these exchanges passed urgent news of births, deaths, funerals, railway matters, business deals and emergencies. In many ways, the telephone exchange became the heartbeat of the town.
Privacy was limited. Operators often knew everyone’s business,who was calling whom, and when doctors were summoned in the middle of the night and to whom.
The Kelleher premises would later meet a dramatic fate. In June 1946, a serious fire broke out in the Kelleher greengrocer’s shop on Main Street. The blaze quickly spread to the neighbouring Munster and Leinster Bank, destroying roofs and causing extensive damage. Fire brigades from Charleville, Cork and Mallow battled through the night, even pumping water from a pond half a mile away.
Thankfully, Mrs Kelleher and her son Edward escaped safely. Newspaper reports at the time described the fire as one of the most serious outbreaks seen in the town for years.
Today, the story of the Kellehers reminds us how one local extended family could touch so many parts of community life business, communication, fashion, commerce and the everyday running of Charleville itself.

"Every building has a Story to tell,some whisper some yell"
Image below is of one of the Kelleher premises. In the 1930s.

18/05/2026

Sickness, superstition, and survival.

This post is part of the Local History Series by local historian and genealogist Evelyn O’Keeffe.

Charleville Doctors & Apothecaries (Chemists)
In 18th- and 19th-century Ireland, qualified doctors were often scarce in rural towns like Charleville. For many ordinary people, the first person they turned to in times of illness was the local apothecary.

But what exactly was an apothecary?
Far more than simply a chemist, apothecaries prepared and sold medicines, diagnosed illnesses, treated the sick, and offered medical advice to the community. Their shops were filled with strange herbs, powders, bottles, ointments, and remedies some lifesaving, others mysterious by modern standards.
Yet medicine in old Ireland was not confined to science alone…

In rural communities like Charleville, formal medicine existed side-by-side with ancient folk traditions. Herbal healers, bone setters, “fairy doctors,” holy wells, charms, and cures passed down through generations were all part of everyday life.

This fascinating blend of science, belief, and superstition survived well into the 19th century.
During times of great suffering, Charleville’s doctors and apothecaries worked tirelessly alongside one another in fever hospitals, dispensaries, and workhouses, battling devastating outbreaks of: Typhus, Cholera,Smallpox & Tuberculosis.

These epidemics brought fear and tragedy to the town, but also revealed the courage of those who cared for the sick in some of history’s darkest times.
Where shadows linger… history speaks.

Below is the most comprehensive list available for Charleville Doctors and Apothecaries.

1738, 1739 Edmond Freeman Apothecary
1738 George Freeman Apothecary
1739 George Blackhall Apothecary and was buried in St.Marys CoI Doneraile in 1757
1770 Robert Halahan Apothecary
1795 George White Apothecaries
1798 James Clifford Apothecaries
1798 James Donegan died in 1803, Died (Was in partnership until 1799 with John Grove White)
1799 William Murphy Apothecaries
1799, 1818, 1825 John Grove White Apothecary and Surgeon (Put an announcement in newspaper 27th April 1799 advising
of end of partnership with Donegan)

1801 John Grove White is listed as an Assistant Surgeon 5th Dragoon Guards
1805 John Manning
1805 Francis F Donigan
1806 Micahel Connor
1811,1821 Edward/Edmund Flannery
1811 Christopher Townsend
1813 Gresham Herrick
1813 James Deasy opened his own in 1821
1814, 1821, 1828,1829,William O'Connell
1815 Michael O'Connor apothecary
1818 Thomas Bransfield apothecary
1819 Michael Deasy apothecary
1820 Doctor John Bennett apothecary
1820 ,1823,James O'Regan apothecary
1820 James Collins apothecary
1822 Robert Swayne apothecary
1823 Shine apothecary
1824 John Bernard M. D. (William Frederick Bernard (1825-1863), Civil Engineer
Born at Charleville, Cork, the son of Dr. John Barnard)
1824 Robert Featherstone M. D (Knight's Lodge was built by Robert Featherstone in the 1790s).
1824 M. Raleigh M. D
1824 Surgeon Richard Fitzmaurice,
1824 William Crone apothecary
1824 William O'Connell apothecary
1824, 1859, 1868 Denis Rahilly apothecary
1824 John Rahily apothecary
1825 Richard Moloney apothecary
1825 John McGrath apothecary
1825 Patrick Storkey apothecary( Newspaper,Cork Mercantile Chronicle 11/01/1815 Advert: Stolen from Francis Storkey’s yard in the town of Charleville, a strong dark bay horse, the property of Tim O’Shea of Ballyteige)
1829 Thomas Spiller apothecary
1826 John Cronin apothecary
1827 William B Heley apothecary
1828 James S Green apothecary
1830s Dr John Wallis of Charleville died the 6th of May 1839 aged 30 is buried in Mortalstown,Ardpatrick.
1830s John Lynch M.D lived at Clancy Terrace & worked at the fever hospital he died in 1840.He was the father of Eliza Lynch.
1840s William Stewart(Stuart) Frazer,Apothecary Clanchy Terrace.
1840 James J O Sullivan M.D
1840s William Daniel Murphy M.D worked in the fever hospital.
1840 James Donovan MD died 1844
1840 Chalres C. Tuckey M.D.Medical Officer Dispensary Doctor.
1840, 1859 Patrick Wallace MD
1842 Dr. Bailey
1842 John Bernard MD Doctor of Knight's Lodge Charleville was in the Post Office Directory.
1842, 1845 Dr.James Sullivan,The Terrace
1846 James J.Sullivan Apothecary
1846 Thomas Gorman Apothecary
1856 Dr.Jeremiah Cronin, Main st
1856 Dr.Godfrey M'Cullagh, Main st
1856 Dr.Patrick Wallis,Main st
1856 William Cronan , Main st Apothecary
1856 Thomas O'Gorman , Main st Apothecary
1856 Dennis Rahilly , Main st Apothecary
1870 Dr. Cremin, Charleville, Cork, served in the Franco Prussian War, in the volunteer surgeons attached to ambulance of the French Medical Corps.
1870 Dr.David Daly Main st
1870 Dr.Edward Sullivan Lower Broad st
1870 Dr. Patrick Wallis Maryville
1870 William Cronin Main st Apothecaries.
1870 Dennis Rahilly , Main st Apothecaries
1874 & 1879 Dr.Cagney Charleville recorded attending inaugural meeting of British Medical Association Annual,South of Ireland branch in Cork.

1900 William Ferguson Surgeon Major AMD (his Son Alan married Kathleen Harrison of Castle Harrison,Ballyhea)
1901,1911 & 1914 Dr.John Cremin
1901,1911,1914 & 1921 Dr Henry Bouchier-Hayes LRCP, 1892 .
1914 James Carroll Pharmaceutical Chemists
1914 Fred R Garty Pharmaceutical Chemists
1921 Doctor James McCarthy, LRCP, 1892
1921 T. P. Roche Pharmacist Ballyshonekin
1926 MD Bernard O’Donnell Main Street
1935 T.H Connolly Chemist
1937 John Leahy Chemist
1940s FJ Feeney Chemist Charleville
1948 E H McElwee Pharmacist Charleville

Image below of Maryville House, Kilmallock rd Charleville it was the home of the Wallis family of physicians and surgeons. It was occupied by Dr. Patrick Wallis in the late 1800s and E. P. Wallis,John Wallis M.B.B.C.H in the early 1900s.

15/05/2026

Midwives and women of Charleville.
This post is part of the local history series by Evelyn O’Keeffe local historian and genealogist.

Step back into the shadows of old Charleville… where childbirth was as dangerous as disease, where abandoned infants were left in hedges and bushes, and where midwives stood between life and death.

When Charleville was founded in 1661, there were no official laws governing midwives in Ireland. No state training, no medical boards, no protections for mothers. That would not come until the Midwives (Ireland) Act of 1918.

Instead, the power to approve midwives rested with the churches.
Both the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church granted licences, judging not only a woman’s skill, but also her “moral character.”

Records from Bishop Matthew MacKenna’s Visitation Book (1785–1790) reveal just how vital these women were to everyday life:
• Charleville – 5 midwives
• Ballyhay (Ballyhoura) – 3 midwives
• Newtown (Shandrum) – 2 midwives
• Milford (Kilbolane) – 3 midwives

Yet by 1911, only one woman in Charleville officially listed herself as a district midwife — Annie O’Connell, aged 42, living on Chapel Street.

But long before trained nurses and maternity wards, childbirth depended largely on experienced local women, their knowledge passed quietly from one generation to the next.

And in Charleville of the 1700s and early 1800s, society itself could be unforgiving.

The town was heavily influenced by the presence of Fort St. George at the Turrets, where Protestant Dragoon soldiers were stationed. Most local women, however, were Catholic. Mixed relationships were deeply frowned upon, and for many women, pregnancy outside marriage could bring scandal, shame, poverty… or worse.

The parish registers tell heartbreaking stories.

On one page alone of the Church of Ireland records for 1800, we find abandoned infants — “foundlings” — babies left behind with only the place they were discovered to mark their existence:

• John Turrets — 19 May 1800, Foundling
• Mary Nettles — 28 May 1800, “Found in a bush of nettles”
• Thomas and Mary Bush — twins, 7 June 1800, “Found in a bush”
• Mary Bush — 24 June 1800, also “Found in a bush”

These tiny entries in fading ink speak volumes about desperation and survival in old Charleville.

And while some infants were abandoned, many mothers never survived childbirth at all.

For women in Charleville from the 1600s right into the early 1900s, giving birth could be a death sentence.

The records are filled with tragedy:

• In 1781, Joseph Phair, a farrier working for the 8th Dragoons, welcomed a daughter named Frances. Within days, his wife was dead.

• In 1788, Richard Bourke of the 9th Dragoons celebrated the birth of his daughter Catherine. Her mother died the very same day.

• William Phair’s wife died only weeks after giving birth to their daughter Letitia in 1789.

• Andrew Lee lost not one, but two wives following childbirth within just two years.

• Henry Swyny buried two wives after they each gave birth to daughters in Charleville.

Behind every line in these registers lies a family shattered by loss.

Today, we often think of childbirth as routine.
But in historic Charleville, every birth carried fear, uncertainty, and risk.
Midwives were not simply helpers,they were trusted figures who carried generations of knowledge, comforted the dying, delivered the living, and stood witness to some of the town’s most heartbreaking moments.

History is not only found in castles and battles…
sometimes it survives in the fragile pages of baptism and burial books, where the voices of forgotten women still whisper across the centuries.
Image below of Chapel St. Charleville.

12/05/2026

Uncovering What Lies Beneath the Soil…

This post is part of the Local History Series by local historian and genealogist Evelyn O’Keeffe.

As silage season begins once more and the roads around Charleville fill with tractors and heavy farm machinery, it stirs memories for many.
For some it reminds them of childhood memories to others its a familiar feeling that as sure as night follows day summer is on its way .

But one Charleville farmer’s day in the fields led to a discovery far more chilling…

In 1951, local farmer Jack Buckley of Boolard, Charleville, was carrying out ordinary work on his land when his machinery struck something beneath the soil.
What he uncovered shocked him,two bodies buried in shallow graves.

Jack reported the discovery to the local Gardaí.
Investigations soon revealed the remains were those of two young British soldiers, both still wearing the uniforms of the Machine Gun Corps.
But how had two British soldiers ended up secretly buried in a quiet Charleville field?

To uncover the answer, we must step back into one of the darkest and most tense chapters in Irish history ,the War of Independence.
British military records confirm that members of the Machine Gun Corps were stationed in Charleville during 1920 & 1921.

Then, in May of that year, local newspapers reported that two soldiers had mysteriously vanished.
“There is much tension locally…”

The men were named as:
• Private Patrick James Cagney, aged 20, from Camberwell, London.Badge No.7814507

• Private Walter Musgrove, aged 19, from Langley Mill, Derbyshire.Badge No.7812760
Both disappeared on 23 May 1921.

By July, however, a very different story appeared in British records. The British Police Gazette suggested the two men had deserted to join a travelling circus.

An unbelievable tale and perhaps one designed to hide a far darker truth.

Witness statements preserved in the Irish Military Archives tell another story entirely:
“Two soldiers were captured at New Line, Charleville.”
“In May 1921, two British soldiers captured near Charleville were executed and secretly buried.”
The statements point to the men being captured by the local IRA Battalion and later executed.

Why?
Earlier that same year, on 2 March 1921, local man Seán O’Brien had been shot dead by Crown Forces at his home on Main Street, Charleville.
Tensions in the town were at breaking point.

The two soldiers had reportedly been captured on the Newmarket Road ,today known locally as the Golf Course Road carrying a detailed map of the district.
At an IRA trial, they allegedly admitted they were on intelligence duties.

Yet another haunting possibility remains…
Private Patrick James Cagney, though serving in the British Army, was the son of a Limerick family with roots in Castletown/Ballyagran.

Was the young soldier secretly travelling the back roads toward Castletown to visit relatives or grandparents that evening?

If so, he would hardly have revealed it ,doing so could have placed his family in danger.
We will never truly know what these soldiers were truly doing that evening.

When the bodies were unearthed in 1951, Ireland was a very different place.
The wars were over, and many wanted the painful memories buried with the past.

The two young men were quietly reinterred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Charleville.

In 1953, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission erected headstones,but no names were added.
And so, the mystery remains.

Were the two bodies discovered by Jack Buckley ,Patrick Cagney and Walter Musgrove the two missing soldiers from 1921?

We will never know conclusively.
What we do know is this: they were someone’s sons.They were young men far from home, caught in the violence and bitterness of their time .
Who now rest here in Charleville forever forgotten....

Image below of Charleville Main Street showing the junction heading out Smith's road towards the golf course & Boolard.

30/04/2026

For Sale
A Chance to Own a Piece of Charleville’s Past
Hidden in plain sight lies a story stretching back nearly two centuries…
In 1849, the Valuation Office Field Books recorded a humble but important building in Charleville ,the Parish School. More than just a place of learning, it was also the home and workplace of schoolmaster Francis Hunt, described at the time as a “Parish School & Office.”

But this wasn’t an isolated spot. It formed part of a larger estate leased to John Clanchy Esq. of Clover Lodge, complete with offices, stables, and a gate lodge where Jim Larkin once lived. Imagine the comings and goings,horses in the yard, lessons in progress, and daily life unfolding within its walls.

Even today, echoes of that past remain. The trees of the old Clover Lawn estate still stand, silent witnesses to generations gone by.
And the story doesn’t end there,the Turretts School continued to serve the community well into the 20th century. In fact, a school roll book dating to at least 1910s still survives in the town library, preserving the names of pupils who once sat at their desks.
Now, there’s a rare opportunity to connect with that history in a very real way…..
Evelyn

The Turretts, Charleville