Editing Timoleague Friary (section)

=== Foundation and early history ===
[[File:Timoleague Friary Window.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|North-facing church window seen from the interior of the friary]]
The date of foundation by the Franciscans is disputed. Documentary evidence places the foundation of the friary between 1307 and 1316, though physical evidence suggests that a preexisting 13th-century building was incorporated into the site.{{Sfn|Keohane|2020|p=579}} According to the [[Annals of the Four Masters]], the friary was founded in 1240 by the [[Mac Carthaigh Riabhach|MacCarthy Reagh family]].<ref name=":0" /> This has been identified as possibly being too early.{{Sfn|Coombes|1969|p=17}} Some sources ascribe this claimed foundation to Domhnall Got MacCarthy,<ref name=":0" /> while others claim that Got MacCarthy merely expanded the friary anywhere between 1312 and 1366.{{Sfn|D'Imperio|2013}}{{Sfn|Franklin|1892|p=174}} Domhnall's grandson, Domhnall Glas MacCarthy, is also thought to have been a patron of the friary.{{Sfn|Keohane|2020|p=579}} Samuel Lewis, in ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland...'' (1837) writes that the MacCarthy's founded the friary in 1312.{{Sfn|Lewis|1837|p=625}} The friary's foundation has also been attributed to the [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] [[de Barry family]] in the early 14th century.<ref name=":0" /> Though the friars were well established in Timoleague by 1320, the earliest surviving parts of the ruined friary date from later in the 14th century. It is likely that they were based in Timoleague Castle prior to the construction of the friary.{{Sfn|Coombes|1969|p=17}}

By the 15th century, the friary was recognised as a centre of learning, and also as an important ecclesiastical centre.{{Sfn|Whooley|2015|p=104}}{{Sfn|Whooley|2015|p=112}} In 1460, Timoleague became one of the first houses in the Franciscan order to recognise the [[Observant Franciscans|observantine reform]].{{Sfn|Coombes|1968|p=157}} [[Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh]], also known as "Blessed Thaddeus", is said to have been educated by the friars in Timoleague around this time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy|url=https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-thaddeus-mccarthy/ |access-date=1 September 2021|website=Catholic Saints}}</ref> According to the [[Annals of Ulster]], in 1505 Patrick Ó Feidhil, a famous preacher in Ireland and Scotland, was buried in the friary.{{Sfn|Crowley|2016|p=12}}

An important patron of the church was [[John Edmund de Courcy|Bishop John Edmond de Courcy]], along with his nephew James, 8th [[Baron Kingsale]]. They funded the construction of the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic style]] bell tower, the infirmary, the library, and one of the dormitories.{{Sfn|Coombes|1969|p=18}} De Courcy had been a friar in Timoleague before being made a bishop. The tower was added between 1510 and 1518.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Timoleague (Co. Cork)|url=https://www.franciscans.ie/friaries/timoleague-co-cork/|access-date=29 August 2021|website=Franciscans}}</ref>{{Sfn|Cochrane|2021|p=17}} They also contributed to the friary's collection of plate.{{Sfn|Coombes|1969|p=18}} John de Courcy was buried in the [[transept]] of the friary, but in the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|Cromwellian period]] his grave was [[Desecration|desecrated]] and his bones thrown into the [[estuary]].{{Sfn|Coombes|1969|p=18}}

Despite the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in 1540 by [[Henry VIII]], the friars remained in Timoleague. In 1568, the friary was seized by crown forces,<ref name=":0" /> and in 1577 was granted to [[James de Barry, 4th Viscount Buttevant|James de Barry]], 4th [[Viscount Buttevant]].{{Sfn|Salter|2009|p=74}} Despite this, Timoleague remained an important centre for the training of the [[novitiate]] until the late 1580s.{{Sfn|Lennon|2009|p=14}} In 1590, the Protestant [[Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross|Bishop of Cork]] ordered materials to be taken from the friar's mill to be used in the construction of a new mill he was building, but the river flooded and swept away all progress on the new mill. In 1596, the friary's wooden cells were removed and were being transported by ship, but the ship sank in a storm.{{Sfn|Gwynn|Hadcock|1970|p=260}}  After the succession of [[James VI and I|James I]], the friary was reclaimed by Catholics in 1603, and was repaired in its entirety by the end of 1604.{{Sfn|Archdall|1873|p=147}}{{Sfn|Lewis|1837|p=625}} During these repairs, significant changes were made to the architecture of the friary.{{Sfn|Cochrane|2021|p=14}}