Quin Abbey

Quin Abbey, more properly Quin Friary, stands in the village of Quin in County Clare, a short distance from Ennis. This Franciscan friary is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind in Ireland, and much of its appeal lies in the fact that it was raised within the walls of an earlier Anglo-Norman castle. The castle had been built by Thomas de Clare in the late 13th century, and after his family’s power in the region collapsed following the Battle of Dysert O’Dea in 1318, the local MacNamara lords took control of the site.

The friary as it survives today dates largely from the 15th century and was founded by the MacNamara family, who intended it to serve as their burial place before the Franciscan friars established themselves here. Three of the four corner bastions of the old castle were retained and worked into the fabric of the friary, so the layout of the medieval fortress can still be traced in the standing remains. Among the most admired features are the cloisters, which are regarded as some of the finest surviving Franciscan cloister architecture in the country.

The friars maintained a presence at Quin over several turbulent centuries, through the upheavals of the Reformation and the wars of the 17th century, with the last of the community dying in the early 19th century. The site later passed into State care as a National Monument and is today looked after by the Office of Public Works. Set among fields on the edge of the village, the roofless walls, tower and cloister make Quin a rewarding stop for anyone interested in Ireland’s medieval religious houses.