Religious house - Franciscan friars

The National Monuments Service's description

Located within Jamestown on the floodplain of the River Shannon. A Franciscan friary dedicated to St Mary was established probably after 1645, and a meeting of Catholic bishops was held there in 1650. The Franciscans held a last recorded chapter meeting here in 1658, but the community continued in the area into the 18th century and titular guardians were appointed down to 1860. Seven friars in the area were named in 1714 (MacNamee 1954, 231-4). There is no description of the buildings, and the site is sometimes thought to be the site of the parish church (LE031-82004-), but is more likely to have been at a different location. This is sometimes identified as the old national school as Franciscan lay brothers opened a school there in 1820 adjacent to the Roman Catholic chapel. (Mooney 1946 5-8, 21)

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 17 October 2019
Amended: 3 January, 2020

References

Kelly, L. 2019 Franciscans in County Leitrim: 1507-c. 1800. in In Kelly, L. and Scott, B. Leitrim: History and Society, 195-220. Dublin, Geography Publications

Mooney, C. 1946 The Franciscan Friary of Jamestown. Journal of the Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Archaeological Society 2 (11), 3-25.

MacNamee, Rev. J.J. 1954 History of the diocese of Ardagh. Dublin. Browne and Nolan.