Fethard Priory

At the E end of the town, at the junction of Abbey Street and Abbeyville and immediately N of the Clashawley river. The Augustinian foundation in Fethard, Holy Trinity Priory, was founded in c. 1306 on land granted by Walter Mulcote (Gwynn, A. and Hadcock 1970, 299). The friars remained here until the dissolution of the monastery in 1540. According to the jurors sent to access the extent of the property, the friary church had been the parish church from time immemorial. At that time the friary possessed, ‘a church and steeple, dormitory, hall, two chambers, kitchen, etc....a mill and a bake-house’ (ibid., 300). In 1544 the property was granted to Edmund Butler, Baron of Dunboyne (ibid.). It seems that an Augustinian presence in Fethard continued up to the 17th century, when the provincial chapters were held there in 1643, 1646 and 1649, and the Provincial Superior of the Order lived in the town from 1646 to 1649. However, it was not until early in the 19th century that the friars were finally able to return. Rebuilding of their church began almost immediately in 1820 (Craig and Garner 1975, 48-51). This is a nave and chancel church (int. dims. 38m x 6.7m) dating from the 14th century, with 15th-century modifications and was rebuilt in the early 19th century. The ground level slopes by 0.4m from the W to the E end (O’Keeffe 1995, 85). There was a W tower (dims. given as ‘eighteen feet [5.5m] square’ in 1833), depicted on a Friary map of 1835, and was demolished that same year (O’Keeffe 1995, 85; O’Keeffe 2003, 8). The tower is clearly depicted on Miles Swiney's map of Fethard 1763 (O'Keeffe 2003, map 9) and both tower and ruined church are illustrated in a sketch of 1795 by Sir William Smith (TCD MS 942/2MS942-vol). The W façade dates to c. 1840 (ibid.). Two three-light traceried windows in the N wall of the nave are 14th century in date. The E window is part of a 15th-century remodelling. There was formerly a Lady Chapel running at right angles from the N wall of the nave. The N gable of this side chapel and portion of its E wall survive in a ruinous state. Leading off the S side of the chancel is a 15th-century chapel, formerly of the Dunboyne family, now Lady Chapel. The two-light traceried E window of this chapel is very similar to one in Kilcooley Abbey (TS043-034001-). This chapel also contains some fine 15th-century stonework with carved details including floral motifs and masons marks (Maher 1990, 35-40; Hourihane 2000). At the W end of this chapel there is a stone arch which suggests that a S aisle was envisaged as part of the 15th-century renovations, though the present S aisle dates to the 19th century. Above the chapel, accessed via a mural stair, there is floor which may have accommodated the infirm as there is an internal window in the N wall providing a view into the church of the altar, traditionally called the ‘Leper’s Window’. The E range (ext. L 19.35m) is three storeys high, though the first-floor is more of a loft. It housed the chapter room, colloquially known as the ‘cellars’, and a kitchen with a dormitory above. The ‘cellars’ are in fact a chamber at ground level, with a triple barrel-vaulted roof divided by two piers carrying E-W arches, each section is lit by a window in the E wall, though only one two-light window survives. This chamber would appear from its location to have been the chapter house and was entered through an ogee-headed sandstone doorway in the W wall, into the centre of the chamber. The ground level outside this doorway has risen considerably. A vaulted two-storey passage separates the chapter house from the chamber to the S. The upper level of this passage gives access to a garderobe which projects from the E wall. The room S of the passage at ground level was a kitchen, having a fireplace in the NE corner only the flue of which remains. A narrow stair to the W of the kitchen led to the dormitories. The second-floor is unroofed and much modified. The S range does not survive, having been replaced by a late 18th-century mill. A W range is not indicated on the Friary map of 1835, however, a building appears to have been built in this area in the 19th century which was destroyed by fire in 1974 (O'Donnell 2014, 68-9) and completely removed. This area, including the former cloister, is occupied by a car park. Within the church and the former Lady Chapel there are a number of 17th-century wall monuments (TS070-040068- to TS070-040074-). In the graveyard, N of the nave, there are a number of graveslabs (TS070-040047- to TS070-040067-; TS070-040-75-), including three fragments which have been incorporated into the fabric of the church. Inserted in the N gable of the modern sacristy there is a 14th-century sculpted female head wearing a fluted barbette, it is likely to have been a label stop. W of this there is a sheela-na-gig inserted into a wall. An ex-situ 14th-century a double capital from an ordered arch is located on the gate pier at the SE corner of the church. One of the capitals is decorated with a head flanked by foliage. (Farrelly and FitzPatrick 1993, 94-6).