 The Claregalway Friary, as viewed from the modern cemetery to its north. The Claregalway Friary is a medieval Franciscan abbey located in the town of Claregalway, County Galway, Ireland. Franciscans is the common name used to designate a variety of mendicant religious orders of men or women tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi and following the Rule of St. ...
An abbey (from the Latin abbatia, which is derived from the Syriac abba, father), is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serve as the spiritual father or mother of the community. ...
East View of Claregalway Friary Claregalway (Irish: Baile Chláir) is a village situated about 10km from the city of Galway in County Galway, Ireland. ...
Statistics Province: Connacht County Town: Galway Code: G (GY proposed) Area: 6,148 km² Population (2006) 231,035 (including Galway City); 159,052 (without Galway City) Website: www. ...
The abbey site features a typical, east-facing, cruciform church (minus a south transept) with a 24 meter (80 ft) bell tower. The ruins of the living quarters and cloister are situated to the south of the church building. Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ...
History
The monastery was commissioned in about 1252 by John de Cogan, a Norman knight who took possession of the area following the Norman conquest of Connacht. Norman may refer to: the Normans, the Norman people. ...
Connaught redirects here. ...
The Franciscan community at the abbey lived under the patronage of the de Cogan clan until 1327, when John Magnus de Cogan gave them the building and surrounding lands. In return for this favor, the monks were asked to present a rose to de Cogan and his descendants on the annual feast day of St. John the Baptist (June 24). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
The community flourished until the mid-16th century, when the English Reformation disrupted the Catholic establishment in Ireland. From that time on, the monks of Claregalway fought an ongoing struggle to keep the abbey viable against various political and economic forces. The English Reformation was the process whereby the external authority of the Roman Catholic Church in England was abolished and replaced with Royal Supremacy and the establishment of a Church of England outside the Roman Catholic Church and under the Supreme Governance of the English monarch. ...
 A view of the cloister within the abbey ruins. On July 11, 1538, forces under the command of Lord Leonard Gray ransacked and looted the abbey while on march to Galway. In 1570, Queen Elizabeth I granted possession of the monastery to Sir Richard de Burgo. In 1589, the monastery buildings were turned into a barracks under the administration of the English provincial governor, Sir Richard Bingham. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ...
Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ...
Richard Bingham (1528 - 19 January 1599) was an English soldier and naval commander, who served in Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I during the reconquest of the country and was appointed governor of Connacht. ...
During the reign of King James, the property was given to the Earl of Clanrickarde. By 1641, the Franciscans had reoccupied the abbey, but the building was in poor repair and the community lacked the ability to renovate it. James VI and I (James Stuart) (June 19, 1566 – March 27, 1625) was King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland and was the first to style himself King of Great Britain. ...
In 1731, Edward Synge, Anglican archbishop of Tuam recorded that “there is a friary in Claregalway, where three at least are always resident.” The High Sheriff of the county, Stratford Eyre, reported in 1732 that the monks "lived close" to the abbey. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ...
Church records indicate that the community numbered about 220 religious in 1766, but this number had declined to about 150 by 1782. French diplomat Coquebert de Montbret wrote in 1791 that “the monks are settling down among the ruins.”
The size of the community continued to dwindle. By 1838, it was down to only two members. Archives of the Galway Vindicator, a local newspaper, indicate that the community's last two monks departed for a larger community in Galway in November 1847. For some years after the monastery closed, members of the Galway friary continued to travel to the site on feast days to celebrate Mass and hear confession, but these activities ceased by 1860.
In 1892, a Lord Clanmorris donated the property to the Commissioner of Public Works under the provisions of the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882. In 1882 the Ancient Monuments Protection Act recognising the need for a governmental administration on the protection of Ancient Monuments finally passed, after a number of failed attempts on heritage protection acts. ...
Today, the abbey buildings and grounds are open to the public free of charge. The burial grounds surrounding the building are actively maintained and still in use.
See also Abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland is a link page for any abbey, priory, friary or other monastic religious house in the Republic of Ireland. ...
References Claregalway Parish History at Claregalway.net | 
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