Cloonameehan Friary

On the S-facing slope of a drumlin, close to its base and flanked by a road on the SE side and in the centre of a graveyard (SL039-002002-). The remains of Cloonameehan Dominican priory consist of a rectangular church (ext. 18.7m E-W; 7.8m N-S) and a range of conventual buildings (ext. dims.: 14m N-S; 7.9m E-W) to the N, forming an overall L-shape in plan (both E walls are in line). It is built of rubble limestone set in lime mortar. The N wall of the church is entirely missing except for short sections at either end. The W gable is featureless and reduced to the height of the side-walls. The S wall stands to full height but has a major structural crack near its W end. Near its centre are the remains of a narrow window ope and near its E end is an inward-facing doorway which is missing its surround. Just short of the SE corner is a poorly preserved piscina (Wth 0.55m; H 0.8m), covered by a rounded arch with a chamfered edge, with a shallow octagonal bowl. The E gable stands to near full height. It has a central window with a double ogee-headed cusped light and a hood-moulding - the entire S jamb is missing (see Conlan 2002, fig. 11); the internal edge of the frame is moulded to house shuttering. Most of the S wall of the conventual range is missing and the other three sides stand only to ground-floor level and are missing most of their facing-stones. Enough evidence survives to show that this 2-storey range had three bluntly pointed wicker-centred E-W vaults covering its ground floor. Each vaulted bay was lit by a window in the E wall. There was also a doorway at the N end of this wall. The only possible indication of a cloister are two corbels, c. 3.5m above present ground level, on the external face of the W wall. This is the remains of a Dominican priory founded in 1488 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 223; Conlan 2002, 224). The surviving architectural features, though fragmentary, are consistent with a late 15th-century construction date.