Religious house — Dominican friars in Tralee

The site of the Dominican priory of the Holy Cross was described in the Urban Survey of County Kerry as follows; 'This priory as founded in 1243 by John Fitz Thomas FitzGerald who was buried there in 1261 together with his son Maurice, after their deaths in the Battle of Callan. In 1295 Nicholas Strange was charged with stealing four ells and one mark of silver from the priory and also wheat from the chapel of St. Mary there. In 1325 Diarmait Mac Carthaig, king of Desmumu, was killed in the priory by Nicholas FitzMaurice or his son, William (AI sub 1320, 1328; Butler 1849, 17). The friary also served as the burial place of the FitzGerald lords and earls of Desmond. Contemporary records are known of the burial at Tralee of Maurice, 1st earl of Desmond (d. 1356), Thomas, 8th earl (d. 1468), and Joan, daughter of Gerald, the 3rd earl, and wife of Tadg MacCarthaig, king of Desmumu (d. 1411) (Brewer and Bullen 1871, 166; AFM, A. Conn. A. I. sub 1428). Rowan (1854, 33-4) lists three lords of Desmond and seven earls said to have been buried in the priory. The date of the priory's suppression is not known but it could hardly have functioned later than 1580, when the Lord Justice, Sir William Pelham, garrisoned it with 300 footmen and a company of horse, because it was apparently the only suitable building not destroyed by the retreating earl of Desmond (Brewer and Bullen 1868, 237). The 1584 Survey of Desmond's possessions, however, described it as ruinous and in great decay" ( PRO 1881, 31-2). The survey added that the Priory was large and ample before the rebellion, [and] had a certain church adjoined to it in which the ancestors of the said late Earl were honourably buried". The priory was granted to Edward Denny in 1587 (16 RDKPRI, 39: no. 5043). In 1598 it was reported that the 'sugan' earl of Desmond intended "to break down the Abbey of Tralee with all other buildings fit to receive any garrisons" on the approach of any English force (Atkinson 1895, 415), but it is not known whether this threat was carried out. A description of Tralee in c. 1682 states that "the footsteps of the ancient friary in this town are at present not discernible, for it was first burnt down in Desmond's wars with Queen Elizabeth, and about the year 1652 it was totally defaced by Cromwell's army and the stones employed in building houses and fortifications" (O'Sullivan 1971, 38). In 1756 Smith noted that the priory: formerly had a steeple but that nothing now remained of it except some of the vaults (Smith 1756, 161). In 1758 Pococke noted the only remains of the priory as "one near arch'd building, which probably was the chapel for the burial of the Desmond family, for near it are found pieces of a fine old monument it may be of that family (O Maidin 1959, 44). The 1584 survey described the priory's location as "in the Borough or Town of Tralee, on the river called Guye near the Port of Tralee .. . by which river vessels of the burthen of five tons may come to the walls of the said house" (PRO 1881, 31-2). The Gyle is now covered over by Ashe Street, the Mall, Bridge Street, Stoughton Row, Godfrey Place and Prince's Quay (Hickson 1894, 257). Hickson (1879-89, 585) located the site of the priory in the area east of Stoughton Row and Mary Street, and both Rowan (1854, 2) and Hickson ( 1874, 107) suggest that the Square occupies the site of the priory's cloisters. At present, however, all that can be said is that while the priory was clearly located in this general area, the documents do not allow of greater precision. Hayward (1976, 264) illustrates a series of fifteen blocked arches, reputed to be part of the cloisters, which he had seen near no. 43 Abbey Street, but he quotes Leask's opinion that they did not form part of a cloister arcade' (Bradley et. al. 1987, 106-09). In 1997 archaeological testing at the Abbey carpark under licence number 97E0232 by Martin E. Byrne on the site of the Dominican Priory was summarised as follows; 'An archaeological evaluation of a proposed development site was undertaken on 8 July at the request of a potential purchaser. The site lies on the western side of the Abbey Carpark, Tralee, and presently consists of two single-storey ‘lock-ups’, formed by the partial demolition of houses that existed on the site. These structures are the only extant remains of a row of two-storey houses which fronted onto the former Lower Abbey Street. The site is located within the area of archaeological potential for Tralee and in the vicinity of the postulated location of the Dominican Priory of the Holy Cross. This priory was founded in 1253 but the date of suppression is not known, although some of its buildings were still extant and in generally good condition in 1580, but described as ruinous four years later. The low roof levels and low door lintels denied access to the site by mini-digger. Therefore only two trenches could be excavated by parking the machine outside the doors, through which the machine arm was extended. A certain amount of hand-digging was also undertaken. The remains of in situ human skeletal material were uncovered in the northern trench, 1960mm (1.555m OD) below the present ground surface. The remains of a wall were uncovered in the southern trench. The wall, which is 860mm wide, stands for a height of c. 1000mm above the ‘natural’ surface (1.355m OD) and the top is located some 1100mm below the present ground surface. The foundations of the wall, along the northern face, appear to be sealed by in situ human skeletal remains, and it was not feasible to investigate the southern wall face. The skeletons appear to be generally orientated east-west. It is clear from the evaluation that evidence for the priory and associated graveyard was uncovered, although it is unclear what part of the priory the wall actually represents. Archaeological monitoring undertaken during 1996 at the adjacent site to the north did not uncover any in situ archaeological features, although window and column masonry pieces were recovered' (www.excavations.ie 1997:248 - Abbey Carpark, Tralee, Kerry). The following year archaeological testing by Laurence Dunne at Lower Abbey Street under licence No. 98E0263 was summarised as follows; 'This test excavation was carried out in advance of the construction of a commercial unit at Abbey Court, Lower Abbey Street, Tralee. The site lies within the zone of archaeological potential for Tralee and is near the site of the Dominican Priory. This priory was established in 1243 and was suppressed sometime before 1580. There are no above-ground remains surviving today. Recent test excavations by Martin Byrne, in the UDC (Abbey) carpark area that adjoins this development site, revealed in situ human skeletal remains, possible church foundations and fragments of masonry (Excavations 1997, 87, 97E0232). Two areas were selected for excavation within the proposed development site. The work was carried out with the aid of a mechanical digger and by hand. In Area 1 a trench 4m east-west x 1.6m was opened in the western section of the site. A very substantial wall, possibly dating to the medieval period, running north-east/south-west and c. 1.2m wide, was recorded in the base of the trench. The trench was not excavated any further upon exposure of the wall. The wall consisted of medium and large unhewn pieces of limestone laid horizontally and set in clay; no mortar was recorded. Two layers of silty clay, which included fragments of bone and charcoal, had accumulated above the remains of the wall. A layer of cobbles dating to the 18th/19th century had been laid on the surface of the silty clay. The layers above the cobbles were all modern deposits. A trench 5m north-south x 2m was opened in Area 2 in the eastern section of the site. A number of structural features were uncovered in the trench. Two 18th/19th-century wall sections exposed in the trench were left in situ. A third, more substantial wall, running north-south, was