For 176 years, the Franciscans of Multyfarnham lived quietly on a gentle rise along the southern bank of the River Gaine. Just a short walk – barely a hundred metres – from the haunting ruins of their ancient friary and church, they often gazed across at the weather-worn tower and crumbling walls, likely wondering if their spiritual home would ever come back to life.
Would the bell ring again in that battered tower? Would the Mass ever be celebrated once more within those broken walls? For generations, those questions hung in the air, unanswered, yet never forgotten.
Then came the year 1827, a milestone in the history of the Franciscans at Multyfarnham. After nearly two centuries, their long-held hope was finally realised: the Mass returned to the old friary church. This year marked the beginning of a revival, the first steps in reclaiming a sacred place that had been silenced since the Cromwellian devastation of 1651.
In 1824, the local parish was transferred to diocesan clergy, leaving the Franciscans without a formal pastoral role – and without a crucial source of income! Faced with these challenges, the friars made a bold decision, viz., to restore their ruined church and friary. It was no small task, but Fr Conway, the Guardian at the time, took it on with passion and determination.
Throughout 1826, restoration work steadily progressed. The friary’s account books show payments to carpenters, masons, plasterers, stonecutters, and others, a clear sign of major building activity. Fr Conway organised collections across the diocese to support the project.
While the funds raised weren’t enough to completely rebuild the church as it had stood before Cromwell’s men ransacked it, he managed to reroof part of the old nave and restore the south transept, also known as the Lady Chapel. Throughout the process, Fr Conway took great care to preserve as much of the original architecture as possible. The elegant southeast window and the slender steeple survived intact. Although some modern features, like simpler square windows, stood in contrast to the historic craftsmanship, the essence of the ancient church was reborn.
A sketch made by George Petrie in 1824 shows the friary just before its transformation, a snapshot of a dream not yet realised.
When the restoration was completed in 1827, the church was rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Francis. After nearly two centuries, the Franciscans once again celebrated Mass in the very church from which Fr O’Farrell and his community had been driven out in 1651.
Those years between exile and return were marked by upheaval – persecution, poverty, fear, and uncertainty. Yet the church endured. As history moved on and the persecution of Cromwell, the Stuarts, William, and Mary faded into memory (to some extent), the faith remained. Now, with the altar rebuilt and the candles burning once again, the sound of the consecration bell echoed through the restored sanctuary.
The church, though humble in its material details, had once again become a living temple. Its beauty was not in grandeur but in spirit: four walls, a roof, a sacred altar, and one magnificent window. Over time, further improvements would be made, but in 1827, the spiritual restoration was complete.
A New Friary Across the River
Even after Mass returned to the church, the friars still lived in their thatched cottage on the far side of the River Gaine. Each trip to the church meant crossing the river via stepping stones or a shallow ford – a risky journey, especially during rain or winter floods.
In 1831–32, a generous local benefactor, Patrick Kenna of Cullion, built a sturdy stone bridge over the river at his own expense. That same bridge, later widened, remains in use today.
Once the friars had revived the spiritual heart of the community, it became clear that their physical presence needed restoration as well. A friary across the river was no longer practical. So, twelve years after the church was restored, Fr Conway led the effort to build a new friary, this time directly beside the church, on the very site of the ancient reception rooms.
The new building was a solid, three-storey structure, bringing the friars back to where their community had originally lived and served. After centuries of struggle, the Franciscans had come full circle, returning not just in spirit, but in stone.
The persecution had ended. Peace and religious tolerance had taken root. Yet through all the dark years, even in the worst of times, the Franciscans never truly left Multyfarnham.
As the historian Fr John Brady put it: “Few parishes in Ireland can show such a record of continuity in Catholic worship since the Reformation as Multyfarnham. Although the friary was dissolved by law, the Franciscans remained in the neighbourhood and do so to this day.”
Multyfarnham Friary Today (2025)
Nearly 200 years after its restoration, the friary and church of Multyfarnham remain not only standing but thriving, living symbols of endurance, faith, and renewal.
