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Quin Abbey, is a ruined Franciscan abbey or friary in Quin, roughly 9 miles from Ennis, County Clare in Ireland. It was built in the Gothic style in the early 15th century on the remains of an earlier Norman castle. The abbey had a turbulent history, with the friars driven off or killed numerous times. Officially suppressed in 1541, the abbey continued to be inhabited by a small number of friars until 1820. Today, Quin Abbey is a National Monument. ==History== The church that later became Quin Abbey was founded by the MacNamara family around 1350. From the 14th century the MacNamara clan was the most powerful family in the Baronies of Upper and Lower Bunratty and Upper and Lower Tulla. Making use of the remains of an earlier Norman castle (see below), notably the south curtain-wall, they constructed a church. North of the church, a residence for the clergy and a small sacristy were added. Sioda Cam MacNamara built the cloisters in 1402. In 1430, the bell-tower and Lady Chapel were built by Mahon MacNamara. In 1433, he gave the property to the Franciscan order and allowed them to establish their friary there. Reportedly, the first friars were Fathers Purcell and Mooney.〔 In 1541, during the Reformation, King Henry VIII suppressed and confiscated the abbey and it passed into the hands of the O'Brian (or O'Brien) family, eventually to Conor O'Brian, Earl of Thomond.〔 The O'Brians allowed the friars to continue living there. By 1548, the abbey had fallen into disrepair, and was described as "one great church, now ruinous, covered with slate, and a steeple greatly decayed".〔 In 1584, Sir John Perrot, Lord Deputy of Ireland, had one Donough Beg O'Brian half-hanged from a cart, his bones broken with the back of an axe, and hung, still alive, on the steeple of Quin Abbey. The abbey served as a barracks for English forces until another Donough O'Brian burned it down.〔 In about 1590, the MacNamaras regained control of the abbey and once again set about repairing and restoring it, helped by some other local families.〔〔 The high quality of construction had ensured that the walls suffered little damage. By 1604, the choir and Lady Chapel had been roofed over and the ground-floor living areas made habitable again. In 1617, the Irish Franciscan Provincial, Father Donough Mooney, took note of the repairs and described the two or three friars then in possession as being "old, helpless men with scarcely a memory of the pre-suppression friary". An altar plate of gold and silver had been given to one of the MacNamaras of Knappogue for safekeeping, but had died before he could divulge the location of the hiding place.〔 In about 1640, the building became a college and is alleged to have had 800 students.〔 In 1651, Cromwellian forces killed the monks and destroyed the abbey. Fr. Rory MacNamara was shot and beheaded, Fr. Donald Mac Clancy and Br. Dermot MacInerney were hanged. By 1667, the Franciscans had returned and Fr. Moriarty O'Griffin was named as guardian in 1670.〔 In 1671, the abbey was once again restored, but never regained its former status.〔 By 1681, the abbey was reported empty once again. Yet by 1691 the friars had returned when the cavalry of the defeated Irish army was encamped around the walls of the abbey after the Battle of Aughrim.〔 The friars were expelled again by Colonels William and Henry Stamer (of Carnelly, High Sheriffs of Clare) at some point before 1760, but remained in the nearby townland of Drim. One friar continued to live in the abbey ruins and others succeeded him. The last Friar, Father John Hogan of Drim, remained at the abbey until his death in 1820, by which time the buildings were ruined by neglect. Around 1880, the Board of Public Works took over and the abbey was made a National Monument.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quin Abbey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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