buttevant franciscan friary

This Friary was founded for the Franciscans by David Oge Barry in 1251 and was dedicated to St Thomas a Becket. Of the monastic complex only the church remains; the domestic buildings have disappeared. The church consists of a long nave and choir, with a south transept. The door originally stood in the south part of the nave, but it was transferred (presumably in the 15th century) to the west gable; at he same time the original gable windows were blocked up and later Tudor windows inserted. The choir has 8 lancet windows in the south wall and two early windows in the west gable which were later reduced in size. In order to support the choir on the steep incline down to the river, a crypt was built underneath it. It is gruesomely filled with human bones which tradition says were put there after a battle at Knocknanuss nearby. The church shows well how the 13th century stone-masons worked their decorative windows in sandstone, while the 15th century masons used limestone. There are two early de Barry tomb-recesses in the walls of the nave.