The Callan Augustinian Friary () is an Augustinian friary situated in Callan, Co Kilkenny,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is known locally as the "Abbey Meadow" and is located to the north-east of the town, on the banks of the Kings River. The new Augustinian Friary located in the town via the river is connected to the Abbey.

History

In 1461, Edmund MacRichard Butler successfully petitioned

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

for the foundation of the friary. After Edmund died in 1462, the buildings were erected by his son, James Butler who is regarded as the founder of the monastery. The foundation date of the friary is typically given as 1471, is likely to have actually been two or three years earlier, in 1468 or 1469. In 1472 the friary became observant—its community adopted the fashion then spreading across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

for the strictest observance of the monastic rules — and in 1479 it became the centre of the Irish Observant Congregation. The friary was dissolved and its lands confiscated by the order of Henry VIII in 1540. It passed into the hands of the Earls of Ormond. The history of the Augustinians in Callan from 1540 - 1766 is now lost, but it is known that members of the order returned to the monastery, and there is a wealth of documentary evidence indicating that Augustinian friars were resident in Callan from the mid 17th century. A new monastery for the Augustinian

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

s was founded in the town of Callan in

1766 Events January–March * January 1 – Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain, as King Charles III, and figurehead for Jacobitism. * January 14 – C ...

and was closed by the order in Easter 2001.

Architecture

The friary church is a long, rectangular building with a central bell-tower. The east end or choir, is lit by an east window and in its south wall is one of the finest

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 ...

(a seat for officiating priests) in Ireland. The domestic buildings and the cloister court no longer survive. However, a freshwater well still remains on the grounds of the abbey.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{refend Religious buildings and structures completed in 1467 Augustinian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Kilkenny Religion in County Kilkenny Ruins in the Republic of Ireland 1470s establishments in Ireland Christian monasteries established in the 15th century National Monuments in County Kilkenny Callan, County Kilkenny

History

Architecture

See also

References

Notes

Sources