A medieval Franciscan friary in the heart of Ennis, once home to 350 friars and a famous school, and still packed with vivid fifteenth-century limestone carvings.
Founded by the O'Briens of Thomond, this Franciscan friary grew into a huge foundation of 350 friars with a school of 600 pupils by 1375, and was the last school of Catholic theology to survive the Reformation. The surviving church, cloister arcade and graveyard are free to wander at your own pace.
The building holds an exceptional wealth of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century sculpture carved in local hard limestone, including a figure of St Francis showing the stigmata. On the arch between the nave and transept is a remarkable image of Christ with his hands bound.
Finer details reward close looking: the ram sculpture, the various window styles in the transept and the fifteenth-century carvings in the nave. Please do not touch the carvings, as they damage easily.
The architecture makes a striking subject — shoot the Gothic east window, the cloister arcade and the carvings, then step back for the graveyard, its copper beech tree and views of the whole site. The friary also takes part in the National Gallery's Drawing Day every May, and guides lead tours and answer questions.
Don't miss the sacristy, an impressive structure with a ribbed, barrel-vaulted ceiling. Note the beautiful east window with its five lancets as it lights up the chancel.
The graveyard contains over 300 inscribed stones, the earliest from the 1600s and most from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, carved by local stonemasons with fine decorative detail. The gravestones in the sacristy are the best preserved and easiest to read.
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