ross errilly franciscan friary

The Friary was founded around 1351 by Sir Raymond de Burgo for the Franciscans. It is the most extensive and best preserved of the Franciscan friaries in Ireland. Although founded in the 14th century, most of the building dates from the late 15th century. The church consists of a nave and chancel, and has a double south transept with a later chapel added to it.

The church windows, which are all well preserved, present a good cross-section of the types of window used in the late 15th century. The tower was added in 1498. There are two sets of cloisters to the north of the church, one of which has a cloister arcade. In the north-west corner of these domestic buildings in the kitchen, with a water-tank for holding fish, and also an over extending into the mill-room beyond. It is not easy to know what the many other rooms were used for.

In 1470 the friars changed over to the Strict Observance. The community remained on intermittently in the friary until as late as 1753, although they no longer legally owned the buildings.
It was granted to the Clanricardes, who made two efforts to restore in to the monks.