Glenarm Friary

In the early fifteenth century, Franciscan Third Order Regular communities began to be established in Ireland. In 1445 the archdeacon of Connor was sent a mandate by Pope Eugenius VI, authorising him to establish a Franciscan Third Order Regular friary in his diocese.

A 1580 map of the County Antrim coastline shows the friary at ‘Glanarme’ on the other side of the river from the castle. It was probably closed by the beginning of the seventeenth century, but its site continued to be the favoured burial place of the local population, including settlers from Scotland. 

Little of the friary survives today, and what remains is not easy to interpret.  It was aligned along the traditional east-west axis, so what was once thought to have been the chancel is now believed to have been a transept.

 

Address
The Cloney 3, Glenarm, United Kingdom

Established
15th century