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The foundation of the Cathedral was laid in July 1828. On September 4th, 1842, Dean Terence O'Shaughnessy celebrated the first Mass in the new building which was still incomplete. It was not until February 26th, 1843 that the Church was blessed and placed under the patronage of S. S. Peter and Paul. In 1973 a major refurbishing of the sanctuary was carried out and was formally reopened by Bishop Michael Harty on December 21st, 1973. the Church was solemnly dedicated as the Cathedral of the Diocose of Killaloe in November 1990.
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The foundation of the Cathedral was laid in July 1828. On September 4th, 1842, Dean Terence O'Shaughnessy celebrated the first Mass in the new building which was still incomplete. It was not until February 26th, 1843 that the Church was blessed and placed under the patronage of S. S. Peter and Paul. In 1973 a major refurbishing of the sanctuary was carried out and was formally reopened by Bishop Michael Harty on December 21st, 1973. the Church was solemnly dedicated as the Cathedral of the Diocose of Killaloe in November 1990.
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This place is called De Valera Public Library and Gallery (Clare County Library).
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"In Onoir do Laoghra na Casga 1916 a Throid Agus a Fuair bas ar son na hEireann 1916-1966"
The O'Briens of Thomond once ruled much of north Munster, Donnchadh Ua Brian, created a stronghold on the River Fergus in 1210 which ultimately became the town of Ennis. He may have brought a small household of friars to Ennis about 1240, but the present friary was probably founded by his successor, Toirdelbach Ua Briain, after 1284.
A well endowed religious household was evidence of a king's piety, and also brought spiritual and practical benefits to his people, including literacy, craft work, medicine and horticulture. The friars also supplied clerical and administrative skills to the court. In turn, the O'Briens kept apartments at the Friary and its great church was their burying place.
The Friary was described in the early fourteenth century Campaigns of Turlough as 'diversely beautiful, delectable.' Its splendour was due to the benevolence of its patrons. Toirdelbach Ua Brian gifted blue stained glass windows for the chancel in the late 1200s and Mac Cuinn MacNamara built a refectory and sacristy a few decades later. A cloister arcade was added around 1440 after the completion of the north and west ranges. The tower and south transept were added around 1460. Alterations to the west end of the church and an extension of the transept were carried out around 1500. During this latter period the monumental tombs of the MacMahons and O'Briens were commissioned within the church.
Suppression of the Friary during the Reformation was a protracted business. Murchadh Ua Briain acknowledged Tudor suzerainty in 1540, becoming 1st Earl of Thomond. Thereafter he could offer some protection to the religious houses in his domain. Although an order to suppress the Friary was issued in 1543, the Franciscans were not expelled from Ennis until Sir Richard Bingham's campaign in the 1570s.
Under the new colonial administration, the Friary became the venue for assize courts and when in 1585 the buildings were leased to James O'Neyland, provision was made for courts, a jail and apartments for any of Queen Elizabeth's privy council or commissioners who had business in Clare. Despite this, the Friary retained some of the character of a major religious house and was still the favoured burial place of the O'Briens. The friars appear to have enjoyed limited access and its library was evidently intact in 1634 when Brother Michael O'Clery visited to gather historical information for The Annals of the Four Masters.
The last friar enjoying rights of residence was Dermot O'Broudin. A descendant of the hereditary bards of the O'Briens, he preached defiantly in the town and its hinterland until he was arrested, tried and tortured by the Protestant authorities. His life was saved by the 4th Earl, Donnchad Ua Briain, who pleaded that only a madman would travel about in a friar's habit, preaching openly! O'Broudin continued to reside at the Friary-- allowed to wear a friar's habit and to say private masses in his own room-- until his death in 1617.
Following desecration by Cromwellian forces around 1650, it is unclear when the Friary became the Church of Ireland parish church of Doora & Drumcliff. An ambiguous sketch of 1680 appears to indicate that the transept and chancel were roofed. A drawing of 1780 shows the transept and chancel to be entirely ruinous. It was probably adapted for Anglican worship during the second half of the seventeenth century. By the early 1800s the nave had been re-roofed and a window inserted at the east end within the arch of the tower, with a communion table beneath. The walls were plastered, covering numerous old memorials. Lightening strikes supplied the impetus for the restoration of the tower with the addition of its distinctive spiked pinnacles and parapet.
In 1871 the Friary was finally abandoned and quickly fell into decay. The cemetery, already desperately over-crowded, was closed in 1893. The Friary was conserved by the then Board of Works but remained the property of the Church of Ireland until 1969 when it was gifted to the Franciscan Order in a gesture of goodwill. Ennis Friary is now in the care of the Office of Public Works. (Quoted from the Visitor's Guide, OPW.)
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The upper part: Images of Christ and his Twelve Apostles
The lower part: (3 panels out of 5) No.2. The Flagellation; No.3. The Crucifixion; No.4. The Entombment
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The upper part: Images of Christ and his Twelve Apostles
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The lower part: No.1 panel: The Betrayal
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The lower part: No.5 panel: The Resurrection
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The lower part: No.5 panel: The sacred mark of The Resurrection
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"On this spot in the year 1828 Daniel O'Connell was returned MP proposed by the O'Gorman Mahon, seconded by Tom Steell."
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