Ennis Friary
The Ennis Friary (or Ennis Abbey , Irish Mainistir na hInse ) is a former Franciscan monastery in Ennis in Ireland ( County Clare ).
The friary for the Franciscan Brothers was donated in 1284 by Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster, of the O'Briens von Thomond family. The royal family had rooms in the monastery and the church became the burial place of the O'Briens.
Toirdelbach's pious foundation was considered extremely generous and the blue lead glazing he had procured for the choir was widely praised. The south transept with the Lady Chapel and the crossing tower were not added to the monastery church until around 1460, and the transept and nave were expanded around 1500.
In 1540 Murchadh Ua Briain recognized the suzerainty of the Tudors and became the first Earl of Thomond. In this role he was able to prevent the abolition of the monastery in 1543 as part of the general dissolution of the Irish monastery landscape. The Franciscans were able to hold out in Ennis until Sir Richard Bingham's campaign in the 1870s. Under the new British administration, the monastery became the seat of a court and a prison.
Around 1680 the monastery church became the parish church of the Anglican Church of Ireland . In 1780 the transept and choir had already fallen into disrepair, while the main nave had been prepared for the Anglican services by drawing in a wall in the crossing. The monastery grounds were finally abandoned in 1871 and quickly fell into disrepair, the cemetery was closed in 1893.
Today an open-air museum is maintained on the monastery grounds and the ruins can be visited for an entrance fee.
South transept
The choir with the large east window
Remnants of the cloister
Ruins of the monastery buildings
literature
- Peter Harbison: Guide to National and Historic Monuments of Ireland . 3rd ed. Gill & Macmillan Publ., Dublin 1992, ISBN 0-7171-3239-0 .
- The Office of Public Works, Ennis Friary, undated
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 50 ′ 45.6 " N , 8 ° 58 ′ 53.7" W.