Abbey (in ruins) — Ardfert

National Monument No. 358. Ardfert Franciscan friary was described in the Urban Survey of Kerry as follows; 'Since at least the seventeenth century the foundation date of this friary has been placed at c. 1253 (Jennings 1934, 153) but it is likely that this date is based on the misreading of a fifteenth century inscription (Nicholls 1970, 24-5; FitzMaurice and Little 1920,19). The earliest surviving contemporary reference to the friary occurs in 1307 when grain was stolen from a chest in the church (Mills 1914, 408). Thereafter little is known of the friary's history until 1584 when the friars were expelled by the English (Jennings 1934, 153). Hickson (1895, 33) states that the church tower was subsequently occupied by English soldiers. In 1587 the friary was granted to the English planters, Walshingham and Denny (Brewer and Bullen 1868, 451). Brady (1867, xvii) states that John Crosbie, who was appointed bishop of Ardfert in 1600, settled at the friary, which remained in the hands of the Crosbie family until the twentieth century. In 1629 the Franciscan historian Matthews noted that the family of FitzMaurice of Kerry one of whom was the founder, had their tombs in the friary (Jennings 1934, 153) and later writers also describe the friary as the main burial place of the FitzMaurice lords of Kerry or Lixnaw (FitzMaurice and Little 1920, 20; Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 242). The friary consists of a church and a cloister with remains of the claustral buildings on its north side. The church is essentially a thirteenth century structure onto which a transept and west tower were added in the fifteenth century. The cloister and north range is of fifteenth century date. The Church This is an undifferentiated nave and chancel building with a west tower, and an aisle and an aisled transept on the south. The long undifferentiated nave and chancel measures 41 by 7.6m and its thirteenth century rubble masonry consists of uncoursed mixed limestone and sandstone The jambs and quoins are of red and green sandstone. The Chancel The east gable, supported by stepped angle buttresses, stands almost to its full height of 10m and its moulded sandstone coping is in situ. In the east wall are five graded lancets with dressed chamfered jambs under a conjoined pointed hood moulding. Internally they have pointed rear arches and dressed chamfered jambs. The north and south windows are missing their rear arches but the jambs consist of a banded roll moulding, with nail-head ornament, rising from moulded bases. Above the central lancet is a small splayed pointed window with chamfered jambs and flat intelled rear arch which lit a loft above the chancel. At either side of the gable the parapet, in roughly coursed grey limestone, continues from the side walls The angle buttresses contain some jambs indicating that some rebuilding has occurred. The north wall stands to an average height of 5m but much of the internal facing was rebuilt in grey roughly coursed limestone in the 19th century. This rebuilding included the construction of two round arched recesses which are supposed to imitate the original ones. The south wall stands to a height of 9m the lower 6m of which is thirteenth century masonry. The upper 3m includes the parapet with a drainage course some 6.5m above ground level. The wall is lit by nine lancets with externally chamfered jambs they have rounded rear-arches, some with traces of plank centering, and a wide internal splay. The scontions are trefoil-headed with dressed sandstone mouldings and jambs. Below the windows are five niches. The first two of these from the east are probably sixteenth century insertion. They are round arched with chamfered limestone jambs and one contains a nineteenth century memorial. The third niche is also round arched, with rounded pilasters and one nailhead capital on the west; it had sandstone hood moulding with pinnacles but only the west side survives. The fourth has a trefoil headed arch of sandstone supported on sixteenth century demi-octagonal limestone pilasters. The fifth recess is an inserted sixteenth century tomb niche with rounded moulded arch and an ogee-headed hood moulding, crocketed and pinnacled, of limestone. Externally stepped buttresses of grey limestone, probably of fifteenth century date and contemporary with the parapet, are present between the third and fourth, and the sixth and seventh windows from the east. The Sacristy This building had two floors but only the east wall survives to its original height of 5m. A short low section of the north wall also remains. A modern door opens from the chancel of the church. The ground floor was lit by a small twin-light ogee-headed window with tooled, chamfered limestone jambs and flattened rear-arch. The Nave The north wall survives only at the west end where it stands to a maximum external height of 9m. It is largely rebuilt but it includes a flat lintelled opening from the west range into the nave, and a large round arched recess. The west wall was substantially rebuilt following the construction of the west tower but there are two lines of dressed sandstone jambs which probably belonged to the original 13th century west windows. The wall is now pierced by six openings from the tower. An external batter rising to a height of 1.5m survives on the west wall of the nave and south aisle. The south wall consists largely of an arcade of four arches linking the nave with the south aisle and transept. At its northern end, a round headed-doorway with chamfered limestone jambs of 16th century style, opens into the transept, and inserted above it is an ogee headed chamfered limestone window. Two corbels protrude east of this door, and below the western corbel is a vertical row of put-log holes which may indicate the location of the rood screen. The parapet was evidently added after the construction of the transept because it contains two flat lintelled doors which open onto the former east and west wall-walk of the transept. It is also later than the west tower. Tower This six floored structure is built of well dressed regularly coursed masonry. The entrance to the ground floor is from the NW Corner of the nave. The walls are very thick and the room was lit by deep splayed embrasures with narrow flat arched and lintelled slits. The openings to the south and west have sloping sills and that on the south has an internal and external splay. There is a small wall cupboard in the east wall. The first floor timbers were supported on corbels in the N and S walls and morticed into holes in the E and W walls. Over the first floor is a pointed barrel vault. Opening east into the church is a large rectangular door, missing its rear-arch and internal jambs. Two slits similar to those on the ground floor light the room from the south and west. The second floor is reached from an external stair incorporated into the west range and the chamber is entered through a flat lintelled passage in the thickness of the north wall. The passage has a small chamber close to the entrance on the west which is lit from the west by a splayed rectangular slit with chamfered limestone jambs and flat lintelled rear arch. A stair (now blocked) east of the passage led onto the north wall walk of the church and continued to the third floor of the west range. Further to the south the passage has a round headed opening looking into the nave of the church. The second floor chamber was lit from the west by a splayed ogee headed window with chamfered limestone jambs, flat lintelled rear-arch and window seat. Opening from the north end of the west wall is a flat lintelled passage running NE and N to the west range; it is lit by a splayed flat lintelled slit in the west wall. The east and north walls are featureless although there is some blocking in the east wall. A rectangular door in the east end of the south wall opens onto two sets of stairs; one runs SE and opens onto the wall walk over the S wal