Castledermot Abbey

Castledermot Franciscan Friary

Díseart Diarmada
Location within Ireland
Monastery information
Other names	Castledermot Friary
Order	Franciscan
Established	Prior to 1247
Disestablished	1540
Diocese	Kildare and Leighlin
People
Founder(s)	Walter de Riddlesford II (d.1238/9)
Architecture
Functional Status	Abandoned
Heritage designation	National Monument
Style	Irish Gothic
Groundbreaking	Prior to 1247
Site
Location	Abbey Street, Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland
Coordinates	52°54′31″N 6°50′14″W / 52.908556°N 6.837141°W / 52.908556; -6.837141
Public access	yes

Castledermot Franciscan friary was founded prior to 1247, in Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland.

Building

Only the walls of the church remain, originally a long rectangular structure with a doorway and a pair of lancet windows in the west wall. The north transept was added to it later: this is probably the chapel of St. Mary built by Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare in 1328. Attached to the south wall of the church is a square building known as the Abbey Castle, which possibly dates from the 15th century and would have served as accommodation for the monks.

An unusual feature of Castledermot is that the tower was placed directly to the south of the choir, most likely for defensive purposes, as the friary appears to have been located close to the town wall.^[1] The cloister and domestic buildings are all but gone, the importance of Castledermot friary and the wealth of its patrons are clear from the striking windows in the east gable of the church and in the transept north wall.^[2] Their internal mullions have disappeared but their sheer height and width are impressive. In the transept, an arcade of three imposing pointed arches divides three eastern chapels.^[3]

History

A monastery was first established at this site in AD 800 by Diarmait, a son of Áed Róin, King of Ulster.^[4] The Franciscan friary of Castledermot was founded sometime before 1247, when it received a royal grant of 15 marks from John Fitzgeoffrey (d.1258), Justiciar of Ireland. It is believed that the founder was Walter de Riddlesford II (d.1238/9), lord of the town of Thrisledermot, as the town was then known.^[5]

The friary was plundered by a Bruce army in 1317 during the Bruce campaign in Ireland. Later, in 1541, the friary was suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was also damaged by Cromwellian forces during the 1649–53 invasion.^[6]

References