In this essay I will be discussing the architecture and layout of Kilcrea Friary, describing its room’s functions and their original design.

Kilcrea Friary was constructed for the Franciscan Order in 1465 by a local man named Cormac Láidir MacCarthaigh. His name was widey respected throughout Cork as he also built the castle at Kilcrea, Blarney, Dripsey and another religious foundation at Ballyvacadane.1 Its location was ideal for the Order as it is situated on rich, flat land from which they could grow crops and only a few hundred yards from the River Bride.

The building itself is not unlike any other Franciscan friary throughout Europe being that it is more or less square in shape and basic in decoration.2 Be that as it may, there was careful planning to be made in regards to sunlight and the placement of windows.

Before entering through the West gable entrance door the remains of one of its main traceried windows stands overhead.3 (fig.1). Its width seems to be constricted by the entrance door below which bares the same dimension and is to account for it being a three-light traceried window whereas its Eastern counterpart had four panels. This can be seen by the remainders of their mullions. The reason for having such windows at both its East and West walls was to let in the light from the rising and setting sun. The light would shine through these stained-glass panels and pour cascading colours along the nave of the church. Through the broad, chamfered entrance door lies the nave which is adjoined on its south side by an accompanying aisle and a transept which also boasts its own aisle. Running alongside the nave are three large pointed arches which sit atop broad, low columns. These act as a division from the transept and give the illusion of a greater sense of space. Alongside the transept are another two arches which divide it from its aisle. (fig.2). The remains of a skew-arch can be seen

1 Reference: O’ Gibealláin, 1966, p.10. 2 Reference: Maher, 1999, p.113 Reference: Maher, 1999, p.11

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Fig. 1 West gable entrance with traceried window overhead

bisecting the arches which would have been built to divide the two aisles. (fig.3). Personally I feel that the arcade of arches brings a sense of the Franciscan’s Italian history to the building.

On the Eastern wall of the transept stands two deeply recessed semi-circular arched windows which would have lit up the aisle opposite it as the sun rose over the fields each morning. The windows are accompanied by a piscina to their right which was recessed into a little pointed-arched niche in the wall.4 On the southern gable wall of the transept there remains the ope of another large four-light window and above its aisle are the remains of an unusual ‘two light ogee-headed window with an angular-hood moulding on the outside.’5 (fig.4).

The tower of the Friary is situated between the nave and the choir. It is characteristic of any Franciscan tower being that it is tall and narrow and stands on four large piers.6 Entering through it from the chancel and nave there are two large round-headed arches which are broadly chamfered on both sides.7 The tower consists of four stories which are accessed to from a stone spiral staircase. Each story had a timber- beamed floor which would have rested on stone corbels jutting from the walls and was lit by narrow, flat-headed windows with only the top floor having a larger ogee-headed window on each wall.8 Although known to have been a belfry, the tower could also have been used for accommodation or for safety in times

4 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.37.5 Maher, 1999, p.12. 6 Reference: Maher, 1999, p.12.7 Reference: Maher, 1999, p.12.8 Reference: Maher, 1999, p.12.

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Fig.2 Arcade of arches dividing the nave from the transept.

Fig.3 Remain of skew-arch which bisect the two aisles of the nave and transept.

of trouble.9 The battlements which would have surrounded the top of the tower have now been lost.

The same stone corbels also surround the four walls of the cloister which would have acted as supports for a timber ridge board to which timber trusses would be attached. (fig.5). These lean-to roofs of the ‘ambulatories’ have now been lost.10 Denise Maher states that ‘in a recent FÁS clean-up scheme at the Friary a number of lost cloister-arcade fragments were recovered.’11 These ambulatories may have acted as shelter to exercise in wet weather.12 They would have also acted as a continuous pathway to each of the surrounding rooms. At the centre of the cloister lies the remains of the square-shaped cloister garth. The cloister is perhaps the most important part of the building as it acts as a connection to each room in the church.

To the north of the chancel lies the sacristy and scriptorium. The sacristy was situated on the ground floor and the scriptorium overhead.13 It was essential to have the sacristy positioned next to the chancel as it was here that the friars would have kept ‘sacred vessels, vestments and books which were used for services in the church.’14 The sacristy contains four windows which are situated on its north, south and eastern walls. The scriptorium overhead consisted of eleven windows, ‘ten of which are of double-light type.’15 (fig.6). The reason for such a vast amount of light was that this was the room in which the friars would have carried out their work on manuscripts. There now stands the remains of a fireplace which was built at a later date as to ensure that the manuscripts remain free from dampness.16

9 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.39.10 Maher, 1999, p.15.11 Maher, 1999, p.16.12 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.41.13 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.39.14 Maher, 1999, p.14.15 Maher, 1999, p.14.16 Reference: Maher, 1999, p.14.

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Fig.4 Two-light ogee-headed window on the southern wall of the transept aisle.

To the north west of the sacristy room was the chapter room. This room acted as a function room where the friars would gather each morning after mass to hear readings of the Franciscan Rule and to be given daily tasks.17 On the west wall of the room lies a fireplace and door which would have led to the cemetery outside.18 Originally there was a dividing wall between the chapter room and day room but all

that remains now is two slopes of the wall at either side. The day room also consists of a fireplace on its northern wall and a four-panelled, double-arched window beside it. To the right of the window stands a doorway which would have led to the first floor eastern dormitories. Below this is another smaller doorway which led to the garderobe or toilet.19 (fig.7). The garderobe’s roof has been re-roofed in recent years and is now used to store the tools of the friary’s caretaker. The roof gives us an indication of what the rest of the friary would have looked like. (fig.8).

The refectory is joined to the western wall of the day room through which an arched doorway has now been blocked up. Now the only way of reaching the refectory is by going through the cloister and entering a small arched doorway on the refectories southern wall. (fig.9). It is in the refectory that, for me, the architecture gets very

interesting. In close relation to the arcade of arches in the nave, the refectories northern wall also has an arcade of semi-circular arches. These arches recess at a deep angle into the wall causing the window space to become rather narrow. It is my opinion that this design was deeply rooted in the Franciscan’s Italian heritage and history. A few feet above these arches are

17 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.39.18 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.40.19 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.40.

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Fig.5 Stone corbels surrounding the walls of the cloister.

Fig.6 Windows which run the span of the scriptoriums northern wall.

numerous square holes which timber beams would have sat into. (fig.10). These beams were to support the wooden floors of the dormitories on the first floor. This floor would have ‘been lit by sixteen flat-headed windows and by a large, two-light, ogee-headed example in the north gable.’20 (fig.11). The refectory is shared with the pantry of the friary. It was here at its northern wall that the main entrance to the friary was situated but today it remains blocked. (fig.12). This wall also features the remains of a hatch which would have served as a means of feeding the poor who visited the friary.21

The final room of the friary is the Kitchen which is adjoined to the south of the pantry. It was lit by two flat-head windows and once had two entrances to the west of the room which are now blocked up. The remains of the friary’s main

fireplace can still be seen today, only ‘it is now just showing above the ground, so we must conclude that continues burials have raised the surface some five feet over the original floor level.’22 (fig.13).

Today, Kilcrea Friary serves as a cemetery with its entire interior being occupied by ‘headstones, tombs, a mausoleum, mural plaques and some seventeenth-century grave slabs. They range in date from 1625 to the 1900’s.’23 That being said, it was not always the case that this was the site of some picturesque cemetery. In 1895 the secretary of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society reported to the Board of Works that, ‘the abbey is used as a graveyard, which is in

a disgraceful condition, it is overcrowded, the coffins are not sunk below the ground...’24 In another report from an inspector at the Board of Works, a Sir Thomas Deane, he states that ‘the condition of the graveyard is impossible to

20 Maher, 1999, p.1721 Reference: Mulcahy, 1966, p.40. 22 Mulcahy, 1966, p.4123 Maher, 1999, p.32.24 Maher, 1999, p.32.

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Fig.7 Chapter and day room showing the four-panelled window beside the day room's fireplace.

describe – coffins over ground, corpses hardly covered.’25 In 1910 – 11 plans were finally put into action to repair the friary.26

Kilcrea Friary remains as one of Cork’s most beautiful and historical ruin and cemetery. Its walls have survived suppression and time and the fact that it still stands today is a testament to the craft of Cormac MacCarthaigh.

25 Maher, 1999, p.32.26 Maher, 1999, p.32.

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Fig.8 Garderobe after being recently re-roofed. This gives an indication of what the whole friary would have looked like.

Fig.9 Arched doorway leading from the cloister to the refectory.

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Fig.10 Holes recessed into the wall of the refectory where timber beams would have sat into.

Fig.11 View from the exterior of the refectories arched windows.

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Fig.12 Remains of the entrance door on the northern refectory wall which is now blocked up.

Fig.13 Main fireplace located at the southern wall of the kitchen

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