Kilmallock Priory

National monument No. 212. Kilmallock Friary described in the Urban Survey (Bradley et. al. 1989, 162-4) as following: 'This friary was established in 1291 on land purchased from John Bluet, a burgess of Kilmallock. It was founded, however, with the consent of the bishop of Limerick who had the friars ejected and their house levelled (Sweetman 1875-86, iii, no. 967). After an inquiry was held into the affair the Dominicans were permitted to re-establish themselves on land across the river from the town. The friary was suppressed in 1541 when the jurors found that the 2-acre site contained a church cemetery, cloister, dormitory and other buildings (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 226). The remains consist of a thirteenth century nave and chancel church with an inserted fourteenth/fifteenth century crossing tower. The nave has a south aisle and there is a south transept with a western aisle which was added in the fourteenth century. To the north there is a sacristy and a north and east range around a cloister arcade. The masonry consists of coursed limestone. The chancel is lit from the east by a large graduated five-light pointed window with banded shafts and from the south by a row of six twin-light windows with switch-line tracery. There is a six-bay sedilia on the south wall and a cusped ogee-headed tomb niche with nail-head and carved heads on the north wall. The north wall of the nave had three windows (probably twin-light) and the west wall has a three-light window with switch-line tracery over a pointed door with segmental rear arch. The south wall is represented by footings. The transept has a large south window with curvilinear tracery (possibly inserted in the fifteenth century) and two twin-light windows in the east wall. Two large pointed arches open to the west aisle but the west wall is largely missing. The three floored tower is very narrow and much of the south and west walls are missing above the high pointed crossing. It would appear that the upper floors had single or twin-light pointed windows with rectangular hood moulds and the parapet was stepped. The sacristy was of two floors and was lit from the east at ground floor level by two rectangular windows and on the first floor by a narrow single-light pointed window. The north and east ranges were of two floors but are very ruined. Decorative details in the church include a wall niche in the transept with ball-flower designs and the soffit ribs of the crossing arches between the south transept and its western aisle rest on corbels with carved faces'.

The Dominican friary is shown standing within a rectangular shaped precinct defined by a water filled ditch fed by the River Loobagh on a map of Kilmallock town dating from c. 1600 (TCD, MS 1209/62). Within this precinct there are a cluster of houses shown to the N of the friary with two watermills (LI047-022061/062-) standing on the E bank of the River Loobagh which probably belonged to the Dominicans (ibid.). The friary was connected to the walled town of Kilmallock (LI047-022----) via the Friar's Gate with a small bridge (LI047-022060-) traversing the River Loobagh.

Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 01 October 2019