Religious house — Dominican friars in Athy

Formerly stood near the E bank of the River Barrow inside the town defences (KD035-022002-), to the S of the later Town Hall. A Dominican Priory founded either in 1253 or 1257 by the Boisles or Ouganos (Wogans), although a de St. Michael is also a suggested founder. Suppressed in 1539 and in 1540, jurors found that the buildings had been burnt in the previous June by Donald McCare Kavanagh. An inquisition of 1542 described the friary as a church and belfry, a chapterhouse, dormitory, hall, three chambers, a kitchen, a cemetery, and a garden and orchard. It was garrisoned during the Confederate Wars and destroyed in 1650. Athy was one of the friaries re-established by Fr. Ross Mageoghegan, who became Provincial in 1622, and there were Dominicans in Athy until the mid 19th-century. (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 222; Bradley et al. 1986a, vol. 1, 54-5) No visible surface trace survives. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013