A friary caught in the cross-fire of Irish history

This friary is located in a lovely coastal location near Donegal Town. It was founded under the patronage of Finula and Red Hugh O’Donnell in 1474 during a turbulent era in Irish history. Red Hugh was not only fighting with the O’Donnells and the O’Neills for supremacy in the area but also with Queen Elizabeth’s English army and so the friary has come under fire many times. Over the years it was used as the location for signing important political treaties between the great Irish lords of the north and was even used during The Nine Years Wars by King Philips’s envoys from Spain. After the Flight of the Earls in 1607, it was granted to Sir Basil Brooke who used many of its stones to repair Donegal Castle as a home for himself and used the friary for Protestant worship.

Thanks to Walking To Donegal for the informative video on Donegal Friary