Adare Friary

The remains of a Franciscan friary founded in 1464 by the Earl of Kildare, set within the grounds of a golf course beside the river Maigue in the celebrated thatched village. The church, cloister and domestic buildings survive in good condition, with a slender tower and finely traced windows. It was one of several religious houses that made the village a notable ecclesiastical centre in the late Middle Ages. The manicured setting and riverside trees give the grey ruins an unusually parklike frame.