A pair of houses on Gaol Lane are said to stand on the site of the mediaeval Franciscan Friary or Abbey in Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Patrick Comerford
Earlier this week, I visited the Limerick City Museum, housed in the former Franciscan Friary in Henry Street. The Franciscan Church next door has been closed since for ten years, and at present is closed to the public.
So, after my visit to the museum this week, I went in search of the earlier Franciscan sites in Limerick, who may have first arrived in Limerick in the 1240s.
Their first friary is said to have been founded in Limerick within the next few decades. Although nothing remains on the site of their mediaeval friary near Sir Harry’s Mall, the site is parked with a plaque on the façade of a house in Goal Lane, off Mary Street.
Some historians say the friary was founded by Donogh Cairbreach O’Brien before 1241, others say was founded by William de Burgho, the son-in-law of Donald O’Brien, King of Thomond, before 1287, or in 1350 by Mary FitzGerald, Countess of Desmond. De Burgho was the son-in-law of Dermot O’Brien.
The Limerick historian Thomas Johnson Westropp argues 1241 is the correct date is 1241, and that the later dates refer to times when the original buildings were restored.
A plaque on a house in Gaol Street, Limerick, identifies it as the site of the Franciscan Friary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
The friary stood in ‘English Town,’ between Sir Harry’s Mall and Athlunkard Street, on Goal Lane off Mary Street. It was also known as the Franciscan Abbey and gave the name Abbey to the surrounding area. There was also an oratory dedicated to Saint Anthony on the island in what is now called Saint Mary’s Parish.
The Franciscan friars in Limerick did not adopt the Observant reforms until 1534.
At the Reformation, like most religious orders in Ireland, the Franciscans were suppressed between 1539 and 1548, and most of their buildings were demolished. Their abbey in Limerick was granted to Alderman Edmond Sexton in 1543, and this grant later confirmed by King James I.
Meanwhile, the Franciscan friars in Limerick went into hiding, but the area around their old building retained the name ‘Saint Francis Abbey’, and the river came to be called ‘The Abbey River.’
Some Franciscans remained in the city, and a community of four friars re-established a formal residence in 1615. In time, years three chalices were given to the order – the Farrell Chalice (1619), the Creagh Chalice (1627) and the Rice Chalice (1626). The Creagh Chalice came into the possession of the Bishops of Killaloe, while the other chalices continued in use by the Friars in the centuries the followed.
During the Confederate war, this community took possession of their house in 1642. On 14 June 1646, the standards captured at the Battle of Benburb were displayed in their friary chapel before being deposited in Saint Mary’s Cathedral.
On 17 July 1651, the Virgin Mary reputedly appeared over Saint Mary’s Cathedral with Saint Francis and Saint Dominic as well as other friars from the two orders. Local lore said the vision in the sky then moved onto the Dominican Priory and finally to the Franciscan church.
But the Franciscans were expelled from the city in October 1651. However, after the end of the Cromwellian era they returned and recovered possession of their little chapel in 1687, when they rented the site of their old abbey from the Revd Stacpole Pery, a descendant of Edmond Sexton and father of both Edmund Pery, 1st Viscount Pery, and William Pery (1721-1794), 1st Baron Glentworth and successively Bishop of Killala (1781-1784) and Bishop of Limerick (1784-1794).
It is believed the Franciscans remained at this site until 1691. But by 1698, they had been expelled with all other religious orders from Limerick city.
In the 18th century, a country court house and a county hospital were erected on the site. But these have been long demolished, and the site is now occupied by two houses.
Bourke House, near the corner of Nicholas Street and Athlunkard Street, where Franciscan friars lived in the 18th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
By 1732, four friars were living in Bourke House near the corner of Nicholas Street and Athlunkard Street. This also became known as the Castle Friary, and there Father James White erected a small chapel in 1745. By 1766, two friars were also doing parish work in the chapels of Saint Nicholas and Saint Mary.
In 1782, the Franciscans leased a site in Newgate Lane, behind Saint Mary’s Cathedral. On Christmas Day, the community opened a small chapel at this small friary.
Newgate Lane, where the Franciscans had a small friary from 1782 to 1822 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
The Limerick historian Maurice Lenihan described the chapel as being ‘spacious and it had a piece of ground attached to it on which a house for the Franciscan Fathers was soon afterwards built. The liberal spirit of the times gave an impetus to the erection of the chapel to which not only ... Catholics gave munificent aid, but to which Protestants, Dissenters, Quakers, Methodists, etc. largely contributed.’
This chapel remained in use until 1822 when the lease expired and the landlord, Major George P Drew, told the Franciscans that he was not renewing the lease. The Franciscans took the church fittings with them and the building was destroyed. A window from this chapel is now in Kilrush church ruin on the North Circular Road in Limerick.
The Franciscans then moved to Bank Place, where they remained until they moved to Henry Street in 1827.
They acquired a site on Henry Street in 1824, a new church was built in 1826 and they moved to the new friary in 1827.
Saint Francis Place recalls the centuries-long presence of the Franciscans in this part of Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Next: The Franciscan Church on Henry Street, Limerick.
12 January 2018
A small house in Mallow Street
is home to the Limerick Brethren
Mallow Street Hall is home of Mallow Street Christian Fellowship (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Patrick Comerford
I was writing earlier today about the Independents or Congregationalists, who were the spiritual and theological heirs of the Puritans and the Cromwellians. From the early 19th century they had a chapel in Bedford Row, Limerick, and later moved to a purpose-built Congregationalist Church at the Pery Square end of Hartstonge Street, Limerick.
Another evangelical group that arose in Limerick in the first half of the 19th century is the Brethren or Plymouth Brethren, who owe their origins to the preaching of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882).
Today, the Brethren continue to be represented in Limerick in the Mallow Street Christian Fellowship, which has its roots in gatherings that were known as ‘Bible Readings’ or ‘Reading Meetings’ that were held in Limerick from about 1830 to 1850.
John Nelson Darby was born in London, and was given his middle name in honour of his godfather, Lord Nelson, at his baptism. His family returned to Ireland in his early childhood, and although there is no evidence that he ever studied theology he was ordained deacon in the Church of Ireland in 1825 and priest in 1826.
He was appointed a curate in Delgany, Co Wicklow, but he resigned in 1827 during a dispute with Archbishop William Magee(1766-1831) of Dublin, and left the Church of Ireland in 1831, the year Archbishop Magee died.
By then, Darby was preaching from a chapel in Aungier Street, Dublin, and travelling throughout these islands. In 1831-1832, he visited Oxford, Plymouth, Cork and Limerick, and in Limerick and Cork he occasionally preached in the pulpits of the Church of Ireland.
These visits mark the beginning of the Plymouth Brethren in Limerick, and their meeting house in Limerick was built some time between 1850 and 1880, around the corner from the site of the former Saint George’s Church, and close to both Trinity Episcopal Church on Catherine Street and Saint Michael’s Church on Pery Square.
The poet Robert Graves (1895-1985), who was stationed in Limerick with the Royal Welch Fusiliers during World War I and the Irish War of Independence, heard the owner of an old antique shop named Reilly claim that ‘everyone died of drink in Limerick except the Plymouth Brethren, who died of religious melancholy.’
The hall on Mallow Street remained open until the early 1950s, but then closed briefly because of a lack of members and leadership. The remaining family joined with a similar group that had been meeting in the former Quaker Meeting House in Cecil Street Hall for over 30 years, later the Red Cross Hall.
In February 1953, that group moved into Mallow Street Hall and resumed the original functions of the Gospel Hall.
The meeting house is a two-storey building that looks as though it is squeezed between the two Georgian townhouses of each side. The original windows have been replaced with PVC and the premises are still fronted with railings. The façade has decorative quoins and lettering near the top of the parapet roof spelling ‘Mallow Street Hall.’
The original apex roof inside is still visible in the gallery. The baptismal bath in the floor is said to be similar to the one that had served in the Baptist Church on Quinlan Street.
The congregation now calls itself Mallow Street Christian Fellowship, and meets for Sunday worship at 11 am and on some Sundays at 7.30 p.m. with mid-week prayer meetings at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays.
The Brethren or Plymouth Brethren trace their presence in Limerick to the visits of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) around 1831 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Patrick Comerford
I was writing earlier today about the Independents or Congregationalists, who were the spiritual and theological heirs of the Puritans and the Cromwellians. From the early 19th century they had a chapel in Bedford Row, Limerick, and later moved to a purpose-built Congregationalist Church at the Pery Square end of Hartstonge Street, Limerick.
Another evangelical group that arose in Limerick in the first half of the 19th century is the Brethren or Plymouth Brethren, who owe their origins to the preaching of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882).
Today, the Brethren continue to be represented in Limerick in the Mallow Street Christian Fellowship, which has its roots in gatherings that were known as ‘Bible Readings’ or ‘Reading Meetings’ that were held in Limerick from about 1830 to 1850.
John Nelson Darby was born in London, and was given his middle name in honour of his godfather, Lord Nelson, at his baptism. His family returned to Ireland in his early childhood, and although there is no evidence that he ever studied theology he was ordained deacon in the Church of Ireland in 1825 and priest in 1826.
He was appointed a curate in Delgany, Co Wicklow, but he resigned in 1827 during a dispute with Archbishop William Magee(1766-1831) of Dublin, and left the Church of Ireland in 1831, the year Archbishop Magee died.
By then, Darby was preaching from a chapel in Aungier Street, Dublin, and travelling throughout these islands. In 1831-1832, he visited Oxford, Plymouth, Cork and Limerick, and in Limerick and Cork he occasionally preached in the pulpits of the Church of Ireland.
These visits mark the beginning of the Plymouth Brethren in Limerick, and their meeting house in Limerick was built some time between 1850 and 1880, around the corner from the site of the former Saint George’s Church, and close to both Trinity Episcopal Church on Catherine Street and Saint Michael’s Church on Pery Square.
The poet Robert Graves (1895-1985), who was stationed in Limerick with the Royal Welch Fusiliers during World War I and the Irish War of Independence, heard the owner of an old antique shop named Reilly claim that ‘everyone died of drink in Limerick except the Plymouth Brethren, who died of religious melancholy.’
The hall on Mallow Street remained open until the early 1950s, but then closed briefly because of a lack of members and leadership. The remaining family joined with a similar group that had been meeting in the former Quaker Meeting House in Cecil Street Hall for over 30 years, later the Red Cross Hall.
In February 1953, that group moved into Mallow Street Hall and resumed the original functions of the Gospel Hall.
The meeting house is a two-storey building that looks as though it is squeezed between the two Georgian townhouses of each side. The original windows have been replaced with PVC and the premises are still fronted with railings. The façade has decorative quoins and lettering near the top of the parapet roof spelling ‘Mallow Street Hall.’
The original apex roof inside is still visible in the gallery. The baptismal bath in the floor is said to be similar to the one that had served in the Baptist Church on Quinlan Street.
The congregation now calls itself Mallow Street Christian Fellowship, and meets for Sunday worship at 11 am and on some Sundays at 7.30 p.m. with mid-week prayer meetings at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays.
The Brethren or Plymouth Brethren trace their presence in Limerick to the visits of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) around 1831 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
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