Castledermot Friary

Castledermot Friary, located in County Kildare, Ireland, is a 13th-century Franciscan foundation established before 1247 by Walter de Riddlesford the Younger, a powerful Anglo-Norman lord.

The friary was part of the rapid expansion of the Franciscan Order in Ireland following their arrival in the 1220s.

Built on or near the site of an earlier monastery founded by St. Diarmait in the 9th century, the friary became an important religious and community centre in medieval Leinster.
It featured a typical Franciscan layout — a church with a long nave and chancel, a cloister, and domestic ranges for the friars.

In 1317, the friary and the surrounding town were attacked and burned by Edward Bruce’s army during his invasion of Ireland.

Though later repaired, the friary declined after the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII in the 16th century, when it was closed and its lands confiscated.
Today, the ruins of Castledermot Friary — mainly parts of the church and cloister — still stand, reflecting the simplicity and spiritual austerity characteristic of early Franciscan architecture, and offering a tangible link to the town’s long religious history.