Ardfert Friary

In the fields of the old Ardfert Abbey demesne, half a kilometre east of the village and its cathedral, stands the Franciscan friary founded by Thomas Fitzmaurice, 1st Baron of Kerry, who died in 1280 and lies north of the altar; it became the main burial place of the Fitzmaurice lords of Kerry and Lixnaw. In 1310 friars were beaten when the Bishop of Ardfert carried off a body for burial, and he was arrested. The 13th-century church, 41 metres long, ends in an east gable ten metres high with five graded lancets, and nine more lancets run along the south wall above five tomb niches; the six-storey west tower and the cloister were added in the 15th century, and a plaque records the work of the friar Donal O'Hea in 1454. Reviewers find it remarkably intact and free to wander, though the tower's upper floors are gated; park at the cemetery and follow the paved avenue of about 500 metres.