Roscrea Friary () 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 ...

and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

located in

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland, which in 2016 had a population of 5,446. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Saint Crónán of Roscrea, parts of which rem ...

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 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 on Abbey Street, in the west end of Roscrea, on the north bank of the River Bunnow. The Friary was founded in the 15th century by Greyfriars (Franciscans) and later destroyed by British soldiers. What remains are the north and east walls and the bell-tower.

History

Tradition ascribes the first foundation of a monastery here to

Crónán of Roscrea Saint Crónán (died 640) was the abbot-bishop and patron of the diocese of Roscrea (a Episcopal see, see later incorporated into the diocese of Killaloe), Ireland. He is not to be confused with his contemporary Mo Chua of Balla, Saint Crónán ...

(died 640). Roscrea Friary was founded before 1477 by the

Order of Friars Minor Conventual The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites. Dating back to ...

(Greyfriars) by Maolruanaidh Ó Cerbaill (Mulrooney

O'Carroll O'Carroll ( ga, Ó Cearbhaill), also known as simply Carroll, Carrol or Carrell, is a Gaelic Irish clan which is the most prominent sept of the Ciannachta (also known as Clan Cian). Their genealogies claim that they are kindred with the Eógana ...

, King of

Éile Éile (; sga, Éle, ), commonly anglicised as Ely, was a medieval petty kingdom in the southern part of the modern county of Offaly and parts of North Tipperary in Ireland. The historic barony of Eliogarty was once a significant portion of the kin ...

; 1390–c.1480) and his wife Bibiana (née

Dempsey Dempsey is a surname of Irish origin. Background Dempsey is an anglicised form of Ó Díomasaigh, 'descendant of Díomasach'; this personal name is the Irish adjective ''díomasach'' 'proud'. The family originated in the Kingdom of Uí Failghe ...

). It was reformed c. 1490 for the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...

. The present buildings date to that period. The friary was dissolved c. 1577–79 and destroyed by English soldiers. Fr Thady O'Daly escaped capture but was later hanged in

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 ...

. The friary's land was granted to

Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond also spelt Conor and called Groibleach, or the "long-nailed", ( ga, Conchobhar Groibleach Ó Briain; 1535–1581) fought his uncle Donnell over his father's succession during thirty years from 1535 to 1565. ...

c. 1568, who assigned it to William Crow. ed Some of the friary stone may have been used to build the Catholic church in the 18th century.

Buildings

Remaining are the north and east walls and the central

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 ...

. The bell-tower is two storeys high and is

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

. The tower is carried on pointed arches which have a

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (to ...

order, on moulded

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...

. File:Abbey_in_Snow_-_RosCré.jpg, The abbey in snow File:Roscrea Friary Tower NE Corbel 2010 09 03.jpg, Northeast corbel. Square mason's marks are visible on the stones. File:Roscrea Friary W 2010 09 03.jpg, The bell tower

References

{{authority control 15th-century establishments in Ireland 16th-century disestablishments in Ireland Franciscan monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Religion in County Tipperary Archaeological sites in County Tipperary National monuments in County Tipperary Roscrea