Donegal Franciscan Friary

Donegal Friary is a National Monument in State care (No.175). It was founded for the Franciscan Observant friars by Aodh Rua O' Donnell and his wife Nuala O' Brien, the date of commencement of the building was 1473 or 1474, or less probably 1472 (Mooney 1954-5, 20). It survived intact until 1588 when English forces pillaged it and, soon afterwards, garrisoned the buildings. They were driven out by Red Hugh O' Donnell in 1592 and the friars returned and repaired the place. In 1601, it was again seized by English forces commanded by the renegade Niall Garbh O'Donnell. During the ensuing siege of the friary by Red Hugh O'Donnell, a mysterious explosion and fire wrecked the buildings. In the following year, Red Hugh was succeeded by his brother Rory as O'Donnell and Earl of Tirconnell and before the latter's departure for Spain, in 1607, he had set about repairing the friary for the Franciscans. The friary was granted in 1607 to Sir Basil Brooke and the Church was subsequently used for Protestant worship (Mooney 1952, passim). Though the explosion and fire of 1601 were without doubt responsible for the fragmentary condition of the ruins, the ·prolonged use of the friary as a place of burial (DG093-013005-) in modern times has raised the ground level (as much as 1.75m in places) and obscured much detail. The limits of many of the buildings were disclosed in the excavations carried out by the OPW when conserving the remains and some sections were raised to present ground level to mark important features (See Leask 1952, 53-7). The arrangement of the buildings accords with the usual Franciscan layout and consists of a church on the S with domestic buildings ranged around a central cloister on the N. The walls are built of roughlydressed blocks and split stone with some rubble, and have ashlar quoins and dressings. The church, comprised chancel, central tower, aisled nave and transept, and is unusually long, c. 44m by c. 6.5m internally. The chancel is the best preserved section of the ruin. The battered lowered courses of the E gable are demarcated by a chamfered string course which returns along the E end of the S wall. Only the jambs and splayed ingoings of the E window remain. The recess in the interior gable face at the foot of the window was probably for a reredos structure. S of the recess is a piscina-cum-wall-press; the niche has chamfered jambs and probably had a central mullion. The remaining four windows in the S wall are represented solely by jambs and sills. The two central windows were partly built up and reduced from three to two lights. The window on the E, over the sedilia, had two lights and that on the W may have had a similar number; the latter retains some blocking at the base of the surviving ingoing. Fragmentary sections of tile sacristy walls adjoining the N and E walls of the chancel survive. A door in the chancel N wall communicated with the E range of domestic buildings and further to the W under the tower another door led to the S ambulatory of the cloister. About midway along the N wall of the church a short projection of cross-wall undoubtedly indicates the position of a tower (see Murphy 1895, 35). The deep rectangular recess beside it may have been for a tomb. The remains of are spond pillar at the W end of the nave indicate the line of the arcade which divided the nave and S aisle. The transept is represented by the S gable and E foundation return of an altar recess. The remains of the S wall of a chapel (Leask 1952, 54-5) are no longer visible. The cloister court was small c. 19.4m by 20.6m in size. Though only sections of the N and E arcades remain, there is sufficient evidence to indicate the general layout. Each arcade comprised two groups of five pillars set either side of a central pier which was buttressed on the court face. Five pillars survive on the N and seven on the E. The former narrow, mullion-like pillars have 'corresponding chamfered round-headed arches. The latter are dumb-bell-like with paired octagonal shafts linked by a plate which projects through the shaft on the court side; the capitals are moulded but the bases are hidden below present ground level. The arches of the E arcade are bluntly pointed. Paired shafts on the W face of the SE pier indicate that the S arcade probably had similar pillars to those on the E. On the N and E sides (and probably on the W) of the cloister the arcades supported the walls of the storeys above and the ambulatories were thus enclosed within the adjoining ranges and ceiled by the timber floors of the upper apartments. The S arcade supported a lean-to roof against the N wall of the church. The line of this roof is visible in the E wall of the ambulatory above a round-headed, chamfered arch of two orders; the inner order which rose from spiked corbels (now damaged) is missing. The extent of the E range is defined by foundations on the N and a small section of wall at the SE There is a corner of some other building immediately N of this range. The dormitory probably occupied the full length and width of the upper storey. There are the remains at ground-floor level of the garderobe on the N, and the night stairs, partly incorporated in the thickness of the N wall of the chancel, survives, on the S. Small loops afford glimpses of the chancel from the stairway and first-floor landing level. The N range is represented by footings which have been raised to ground level and a section of the N wall with a blocked-up door; only the jambs remain. There is no visible trace of the window recorded by Leask to the W (1952, 54). At the junction of the W and N ranges are three separate short flights of steps, which communicated with the upper apartments. The chamber on the NW, possibly the kitchen, preserves a wall-press and a narrow rectangular window in the S wall. The NW corner of this chamber has been eroded away by the sea. Little remains of the W range. There is a curious narrow passage at its S end; it is partly built into the N wall of the nave and has a small splaying squint. The function of this passage is unclear. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: 17 November 2011