Religious house — Franciscan friars in Athlone

The precise location of the 13th century Convent of the Observantine order of Friars Minor has not been identified. The firary church of this convent was dedicated to St. Mary. The Annals of the Four Masters record the founding of the monastery of St. Francis in Athlone by Cathal Crobderg O Conchobhair in 1224, but this date has been rejected by Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 243) on the basis that the Franciscans did not arrive in Ireland until c.1224-6, when their first house was established at Youghal. The consecration of the church of the Friars Minor of Athlone in 1241 by Albert of Cologne, archbishop of Armagh, suggests that it was not founded until c. 1240 (Ann. Conn.; AFM; Ann. Clon.; ALC). In 1617 Father Donatus Mooney wrote that the the friary church was consecrated in 1241 and that Athlone was one of the first convents of the Rule of the Friars Minor in Ireland (Jennings 1934, 102). Father Mooney recorded that its was unclear who the founder of the abbey was but the Dillon family claimed patronage of the abbey, based on the presence of an effigial tomb belonging to the Dillon family which was located in the choir of the church (ibid.). The friary church was rebuilt or repaired in the early 15th century after it had been burnt in the 14th century. In 1398 the Pope granted a 'relaxation of three years and three quadregene of enjoined penance to penitents who at Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, and the Assumption, visit and give alms for the repair of the Friars Minors' church of St Mary, Adloyn [Athlone], in the diocese of Clonmacnoise, which with its books and ornaments has been burnt by certain sons of iniquity' (Cal. papal letters, 143). The friary was apparently destroyed in 1567-8 and its site was leased to Andrew Brereton of Monketon, Co. Meath, in 1570 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 243). In 1591 the Crown granted a lease of ‘two tenements late of Robt. Damporte, in Athlone near the north gate beside the house of friars, containing in breadth 106 feet (32m), and from the street to the walls of the town in length 160 feet (48m), in co. Westmeath, parcel of the queen’s ancient inheritance’ (Nicholls 1994, 140). In 1617 Father Mooney wrote that only the walls of the firary church and part of the convent buildings survived and that any family willing to pay for the rebuilding of the church whould be entitled to claim its patronage (Jennings 1934, 102). According to Bradley (1985, 44) the reference in the Tudor fiants suggests that the medieval Franciscan friary was located inside the town walls of Athlone, in close proximity to the North Gate of Athlone. Grannell (1978, 13) recorded the tradition that the 13th century Francsican Friary (WM029-042042-) may have been located on the W side of Northgate St., on part of the site of the 19th century Athlone Woollen Mills also known as the 'Shannon Mills' (Murtagh 1994, 9,12). No evidence of the 13th century Franciscan friary has been uncovered in the town of Athlone. In the 17th century the Franciscan's built a new friary church (WM029-042001-) which stands today in the centre of the town park on the W side of Coosan Road. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 29 November 2013