Religious house - Carmelite friars

The National Monuments Service's description

The levelled Carmelite friary stood on the E side of the River Suir where the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption now stands (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 440). It was founded in either c. 1291 or 1300 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 291-2) and dissolved during the sixteenth century. Its possessions were listed as consisting of a church, a chapter-house, three chambers, a stable and two gardens, all ruinous. They were granted to the Earl of Ormond in 1557 (ibid.). The friars returned to Thurles from time to time, 'Thurlusiae' being listed among the Irish Carmelite houses c. 1737 (ibid.). Although nothing now remains of the friary, an 'old ruinous aby' was described in Civil Survey of 1654-6 (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 53). In 1795, Topographia Hibernica recorded the following; 'A monastery was founded here by the Butler family, in A.D. 1300, a tower is still remaining on the E side of the river, and a part of the cross aisle leading to the N' (Seward 1795).
Pococke noted the remains of '...a convent, a tower and some part of the cross aisle to the N...' (Stokes 1891, 174-5). In 1892, John Davis White referred to 'a tower...on the east side of the river, and some part of the cross aisle leading to the north' (White 1892, 9). The similarity to Pococke's comment suggests Davis White may not have visited the site himself. The first Catholic Archbishop's house in Thurles was built near the ruins of the friary by James Butler (1692-1774) (Bradley 1985, 54).
According to the OS Letters of 1840 the last vestiges of the monastery, consisting of 'a small portion of a stone wall with a circular doorway of chiselled limestone on it' stood until 1806 when it was pulled down to make way for an R.C. chapel (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 3, 3-4).

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly and Hugh Carey

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 10 August 2018

References

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Kilkenny collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839. Bray.

Stokes, G.T. (ed.) 1891 Pococke's tour in Ireland in 1752. Dublin. Hodges and Figgis.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1934 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. II: county of Tipperary - Western and Northern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

White, J.D. 1892 Anthologia Tipperariensis. Cashel.

Seward, W. Wenman 1795 Topographia Hibernica; or the topography of Ireland, antient and modern. Dublin. A. Stewart.

Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Bradley, J. 1985 (Reprint 1997) The medieval towns of Tipperary. In W. Nolan and T.G. McGrath (eds), Tipperary: History and Society, 34-59. Dublin. Geography Publications.

Killanin, M.M. and Duignan, M.V. 1962 Shell Guide to Ireland. London. Ebury Press.