Moor Abbey () is a ruined medieval

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

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 ...

in Galbally,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, Ireland, on the banks of the

River Aherlow The Aherlow River (; ga, An Eatharlach) is a river in County Limerick and County Tipperary, Ireland. Name The name Aherlow comes from ''eatharlach'', an old Irish word believed to mean "lowland between two high lands", i.e. a valley, in this ...

. Originally founded in the 13th century, the surviving ruins date from the late 15th century. The abbey was burnt down by British forces in 1569.

History

Located on the north bank of the

, Moor Abbey was established by Donnchadh Cairprech Ó Briain,

King of Thomond The kings of Thomond ( ga, Rí Tuamhain) ruled from the establishment of Thomond during the High Middle Ages, until the Early modern period. Thomond represented the legacy of Brian Bóruma and the High Kings of Ireland of his line who could no ...

1210–42. In 1471 a new church was constructed at the site, but burned down in 1472. The buildings that survive today date from that period. In 1541 the friary was dissolved and later became the property of John, brother of

James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond James fitz John FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Desmond (died 1558), also counted as the 14th, ruled 22 years, the first 4 years as ''de facto'' earl until the death of James FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond, called court page, who was murder ...

. In 1569, during the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the Fitzmaurice/FitzGerald Dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and ...

, the abbey was burned by government soldiers led by Sir

Humphrey Gilbert Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America ...

, originally from Devon and a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. The following year Fr. Dermot O'Mulrooney and two other friars returned to the friary but were murdered by government forces. The Franciscans came back again in 1645, only to be expelled by Cromwellian forces. It was 1658 before they could once again occupy the Abbey. They finally left for the last time in 1748 after a dispute with Fr. James Butler, Vicar-General of Cashel & Emly diocese and the abbey fell into ruin. The friars went to

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50& ...

, and the last friar of Moor Abbey died there in 1804. An attempt by the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

to detonate the Abbey in 1921 failed.

Building

The ruined church consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, separated by a tall

bell-tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

with

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 ...

. In the chancel is a double

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

. Beside the doorway in the north wall of the chancel is a

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

. No other buildings remain.

References

{{authority control Franciscan monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Archaeological sites in County Tipperary National monuments in County Tipperary