School

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated c. 18m E of Quin Friary (CL042-027002-). A rectangular structure (int. dims. c. 15.8m NE-SW; c. 12m NW-SE) known locally as ‘The School’. The feature is the largest of the many grassed over structures close to the remains of the Friary. A building orientated NE-SW is depicted at this location on the 1840 OS 6-inch map. When partially excavated (Hull 2017) the walls were found to partially overlie the back-filled moat of the Anglo-Norman castle (CL042-027001-). Remains comprise grassed-over stone walls (H. 1m; Wth 1.7-2.8m) with evidence of an entrance (Wth 3.4m) in the S wall near the SE corner. A possible 17th-century lead bullet was found in the construction cut. A school was founded c. AD 1643 by Eugene O’Cahan and was destroyed by Cromwellians in 1651. Antonius Broudinus, a Clare-born Franciscan noted that the school or studium had over 800 students in 1644 although this is likely to be an exaggeration (McInerney 2014, 204). Hull (2017) notes that the scale of the building compares well with the’ Cabhal Tighe Breac’ or O'Davoren school at Cahermacnaghten, Co. Clare (CL009-001009-).

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 8 May 2018

References

Hull, G. 2017 Quin Friary, Quin, Co. Clare. Final Archaeological Excavation Report (licence no. E004671) Unpublished report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.

Hull, G. and McCooey, J. 2017 Archaeological excavation of earthworks at Quin Friary. The Other Clare 41, 51-9.

McInerney, L. 2014 Clerical and learned lineages of medieval Co. Clare: a survey of fifteenth-century papal registers. Dublin. Four Courts Press.