We're still in county Tipperary for a few yards!
This is a place we've wanted to visit again for many years, since September 21st, 2003, and we always dreamed of it.
Moor abbey is a Franciscan friary whose name comes from "Mura na mBrathair" which means "enclosure of the friars". It was first founded in the 13th century by Donough Cairbreach O'Brien, King of Thomond, for the Franciscan friars, but nothing of the original building survives today. What we see here are the remains of the church erected by his descendant Aunfurn in 1471. The year after its new construction, the church was destroyed by a fire, but it was soon re-established and worked for the following 100 years. In 1570 sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, with a group of soldiers assaulted the friary, burned it down and massacred the three friars that were living in it at that time.
The Franciscan friars returned to the church in 1646 and stayed until 1806, when the last friar died.
The building is 33 metres long and about 10 metres wide. It has a massive tower in the middle of its length and a wide window on the east wall.
Inside the church, on the south wall, there are two sedilia. On the opposite wall there's a big medieval tomb with an interesting, though unknown, figure carved on a small slab set in the wall.
The entrance to the church faces west (265°).
Two cars with a bunch of drunk (and maybe stoned) youngsters were parked right behind the church and their radio was playing disco music at a very loud volume. This fact destroyed the wonderful atmosphere we could have lived during our visit.
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