Clonmel Friary

In the SE angle of the town wall, E of Abbey Street. This Franciscan friary was founded in 1269 by Otho de Grandison (Morrissey 1909, 248-50). The former chancel of the 13th-century church is co-terminous with the present N aisle, while the nave, which was demolished in c. 1760, originally extended to the W, crossing Abbey Street (Shee and Watson 1975, 30). Its foundations now lie beneath the car park immediately W of the Friary (Shee and Watson 1975, 11-12). It is probable that the cloister and domestic buildings were located to the S of the church (Shee and Watson 1975, 11-12). A N transcept or Lady Chapel was added in 1318 (Conlan 1999, 100). At the time of the Dissolution in 1540 the friary consisted of 'a church, a belfry, a dormitory, a hall, three chambers, a kitch, a stable, ...a weir' and land (Morrissey 1909, 248-50). During Cromwell's attack on Clonmel in 1650 the friary was badly damaged. The 'ffort of Clonmel' was built there soon afterwards, thereby destroying the claustral buildings (Shee and Watson 1975, 11-12). Towards the end of the 17th century a number of weavers brought from England established their factory at the old fort of Clonmel (Shee and Watson 1975, 11-12). In 1705 the chancel was repaired for use as a Dissenter's chapel and remained as such until 1789 when the friars once again took possession (Shee and Watson 1975, 11-12). In c. 1813 the building was converted into a barrack (Morrissey 1909, 248-50). The friary was reopened in 1828 (Craig and Garner 1975, 27) and rebuilt in 1883, incorporating the N wall of the original 13th-century choir and later 15th-century tower (Morrissey 1909, 248-50). By 1840 a SE wing (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 3, 70-71) and a porch in front of the tower had been added (Shee and Watson 1975, 11-12). Of the former medieval friary church and its domestic buildings only the belfry and traces of the gabled roof of the old nave on its W side remain upstanding. The belfry is seven storeys high (dims. 2.7m N-S; 3m E-W; wall T 1m) constructed of sandstone. The crenellations, porch entrance and buttress features on its W face, and some of the windows, are modern additions to the medieval fabric. Internally the original piers which carried the vault of the tower are in place. The first floor is no longer extant and access to the second floor is via a tiny doorway broken through the S wall of the church gallery. The eroded sandstone staircase rises steeply to the upper floor where it becomes spiral. The fifth floor is roofed by a bee-hive vault with good wicker-centring. There are a number of miscellaneous architectural fragments in the yard adjoining the church on its N side. Within the church itself there is a double effigial Butler tomb (TS083-019086-) and fragments of panels from three other altar tombs (Hunt 1974, vol. 1, 225-6; vol. 2, pl. 167, 336). In the 17th century a franciscan noted that there were several tombs of 'black marble' in the church, commemorating 'the Prendergasts, Mandevilles, Walls, Whites, Brays, Moronys and other notables'. When Burke (1907, 299-313) wrote his history of Clonmel only the Butler tomb was extant. According to Conlan (1999, 100) the Butler tomb was originally in the choir. Burke (ibid.) also states that the wall memorial to John White came from the friary and was moved to St. Mary's R.C. church in Irishtown (TS83-019018-). Located c. 50m NW of the Franciscan church, presumably in the former grounds of the abbey, a burial ground (TS083-019072-) was uncovered during monitoring of building works (Henry 1996, 81). The historical records indicate that the burial-ground remained in use following the dissolution of the friary in 1540 (ibid.). The church and graveyard were granted to the citizens of Clonmel after the Dissolution and remained in use for some time, probably until the ground was acquired for the construction of the Main Guard courthouse (TS083-019004-) in the early 1670s (ibid.). Excavations in 1994/5 to the rear of the Main Guard courthouse revealed a wall which underlay and pre-dated the southern wall of the return of the courthouse (Henry 1996, 81). Its location and the fact that it pre-dates the Main Guard suggests that the wall was associated with a Franciscan building (ibid.). (Farrelly and FitzPatrick 1993, 67-70).