The magnificent Quin Friary was founded in 1433 in the ruins of an Anglo-Norman castle. In 1280 Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond, built a castle at this site with a square courtyard and four guard towers at each corner. Their foundations can still be seen today. Six years later the castle was attacked and completely destroyed by the Irish. The castle remained in ruins for about 150 years until the McNamara family gave the place to the Franciscan Order to found a friary.
The friary is very well kept and the most amazing part of it is the cloister that is complete in all its parts, even better than the Moyne Friary, most of the plaster is still present on the walls. The church is dominated by a massive square tower and has a three-light window in the chancel that looks east (85°). There's a south transept with another three-light window and a double piscina on the left of the small altar.
The castle was built on a rocky outcrop, with the foundations going 15 metres deep in the rocks.
This friary is one of the locations of the movie "Guns in the Heather" (1969), by Robert Butler. It's the place where the two main characters hide for the night. See the second episode at the time 00:16:43, and at the time 00:23:18.
We came here for the first time on May 14th, 2000.
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