The Adare Friary, located in Adare,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

, Ireland, formerly known as the "Black Abbey", is an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

Friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

founded in 1316 by the

Earl of Kildare Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

. It is now known as "St. Nicholas'

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, and St Nicholas' National School. It is a nationally ranked building in the NIAH register.

History

The Augustinian friars first came to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

from England in about 1260. They were invited to Adare by

John FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare John FitzThomas (c. 1250 – d. 10 September 1316) was an Anglo-Norman in the Peerage of Ireland, as 4th Lord of Offaly from 1287 and subsequently as 1st Earl of Kildare from 1316. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas FitzMaurice (son of Mauri ...

in 1316 and given land and houses in the town. By 1541 the Augustinian friars owned nearly of land, several cottages and gardens in the village and a fishing weir on the river. As part of the Tudor suppression of Irish Monasteries at the end of the 16th century, the Augustinians were driven out of Adare and had moved to

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

city by 1633. Many of the features of the friary are very well preserved, particularly the small 15th century

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

and

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

. The garth is small and square, and the piers are relatively narrow and buttress-like, with boldly moulded plinths repeated along the base walls. The arches between them are relatively high and four-centred and the triple openings are set centrally in the walls, with unglazed mullioned windows. Their heads are round and cinque-cusped. All the ambulatories have rather flat vaulting, groined on the north and west, three-centred to the other walks. The relative elaboration is thanks to the Geraldine patronage which explains the Geraldine Arms carved on the inner spandrils of the east arcade. The interior of the church must have originally been coloured with medieval murals of red and yellow with black lining. The Pieta is a beautifully sensitive piece of wood carving believed to be 16th-century Flemish. The massive oak door from the choir to the vestry is an ancient one which was removed from the old parish church of St. Nicholas. The string course below the parapet on the south side aisle consists of late stone bosses including a Tudor rose. The Dunraven family continued restoration work on the friary through the 19th century.

Modern uses

Church

The church is now used by the

to serve the region of Adare. It is a part of the wider Adare union of parishes, which also includes

Croom Croom () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It is located just off the N20 (which has bypassed the town since 2001) on the River Maigue. It is 8 km southeast of Adare on the N20. History Cromadh (now Croom) was a village in th ...

, Kilpeacon and

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...

School

St Nicholas' National School was established by the Earl of Dunraven in 1814, becoming a national school in 1862. It is a co-educational primary school with a Church of Ireland

ethos Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...

. The school was originally housed in the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

of the friary. In early 2007, construction began on a new school building behind the original monastery. The building has three classrooms and has

sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulen ...

growing on its roof.New School Building
The old school had two classrooms divided by a

partition wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the super ...

. Construction was completed in August 2008, with teachers and pupils moving into the new school in September, at the start of the new school year. On 12 December 2008, the building was officially opened by

Mary Hanafin Mary Hanafin (born 1 June 1959) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport from 2010 to 2011, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from January 2011 to March 2011, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Inn ...

TD, who was the Minister for Education and Science when construction started. The old building is now used for PE and drama classes.

Burials

Windham Wyndham-Quin, 5th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Colonel Windham Henry Wyndham-Quin, 5th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (7 February 1857 – 23 October 1952) was an Irish Peer, British Army officer and a Conservative Member of Parliament for South Glamorganshire 1895–1906. Background He ...

Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, (12 February 1841 – 14 June 1926), styled Viscount Adare between 1850 and 1871, was an Anglo-Irish journalist, landowner, entrepreneur, sportsman and Conservative politician. ...

Valentine Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Valentine Richard Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, 1st Baronet (30 July 1752 – 24 August 1824) was an Irish Peer and MP. He was the son of Windham Quin and Frances Dawson. The Quins were an old Irish family who had long been associat ...

John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare John FitzThomas (c. 1250 – d. 10 September 1316) was an Anglo-Norman in the Peerage of Ireland, as 4th Lord of Offaly from 1287 and subsequently as 1st Earl of Kildare from 1316. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas FitzMaurice (son of Mauri ...

Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare Thomas FitzJohn, 2nd Earl of Kildare, Lord Offaly (died 9 April 1328) was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland who held the office of Lord Justice of Ireland. The eldest son of John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare, Lord Offaly, by his spouse Blanch ...

References