Jonathan departs Clonmel after decades of cleaning windows and making friends

The people of Clonmel will begin to notice the absence of a familiar and friendly face around the town.
Jonathan Moore is probably one of the most recognisable people in the town because of his work on the streets and around the estates of Clonmel for decades.

Jonathan started cleaning windows around the area in 1976 and he, along with his wife Leslie, are leaving Clonmel to live in Craigavon to be close to their daughter.
It is with some regret they leave the town having made some great friends over the years.

“The people of Clonmel have been very good to us,” said Jonathan.
Both he and Leslie were also very prominent members of the Jehovah Witness congregation in Clonmel.
Jonathan was assigned to Clonmel as a Jehovah Witness elder in 1974 and two years later Jonathan started to clean windows for a living.

“I started off in Ard Gaoithe and started to do a lot of work in Cherrymount. It grew and grew by word of mouth, I never advertised and I was always busy,” said Jonathan.
“They were long days up and down the ladder but you got to know everybody in the town and people were very friendly and decent,” said Jonathan.

“People would see you at work and they would stop for a chat about what was happening in their lives and in the world. There was always a bit of banter and very often so many kind people would invite you into their homes for a tea or some dinner. People were very good to me and I have some great memories as a result,” said Jonathan.

Even though Jonathan retired from window cleaning in 2019 due to health reasons people still stop him up on the street for a chat.

“You’re always looking down at people,” is the most common greeting he receives and he takes it all in good spirit.
Reflecting on his work and his interaction with the people of the town over the years, Jonathan said he was saddened by the constant closures of so many business premises over the years.
He was probably better placed than most to observe the losses that the town centre has endured over the years.

“I could start from the top of the town in Irishtown, down O’Connell Street, into Gladstone Street and Mitchel Street and name all of the places that have gone. It was very sad to see a closure as it also meant people lost their jobs and you would not see them around after the premises closed,” said Jonathan.

The list of former clients that have disappeared from the Clonmel streetscape that Jonathan reels off is staggering.
The list would include - Tylers, Binchy’s, Clonmel Arms, First National, Irish Nationwide, Willie Corbett’s stationary, Fieldmaster, Dowlings print shop, Xtra Vision, The Ormonde Hotel, Foley’s butchers, O’Gorman’s Bakery, the Book Centre, Emerald Gardens, Barlow Farm Machinery, General Accident, and all the pubs including O’Donnells, Liam Dalys and Billy Gibbs.

“The places just closed and you would hear the news first as you would notice them all going the minute they were closed,” said Jonathan.
His son Geoffrey is now cleaning windows for some of his clients as Jonathan departs.
“We were very lucky to live in Clonmel. It was a great place to bring up a family and there is a wonderful community spirit in Clonmel,” he said.