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heritage · Sunday 16 August 2026 · 2:00pm 
Talk on Franciscan Friary in Ballymote
At Catholic Church Car Park, Church Street · Church Street, Ballymote, Co. Sligo
At Catholic Church Car Park, Church Street · Church Street, Ballymote, Co. Sligo
The Franciscan Friary in Ballymote has been a ruin for centuries, but its story is far richer than its crumbling walls suggest. During National Heritage Week 2026, the Ballymote Heritage Group invites you to hear that story told properly - a free public talk that pulls together the archaeology, the architecture, and the long, turbulent life of one of south Sligo’s most significant medieval sites. If you have any interest in Irish history, religious heritage, or the medieval period, this is an hour well spent.
The Ballymote Heritage Group has been preserving and promoting local history since 1984, and their talks are known for grounding big history in local detail. The friary itself dates to 1442, when it was founded by three brothers - Patrick, Andrew and Philip O’Coleman - under the Third Order of St. Francis. Over the western entrance a carved stone bust of a pope commemorates the papal permission allegedly granted by Eugenius IV. The friary’s life was turbulent: it was attacked and burned in 1483, reported as “totally ruined by rebels” in the 1580s, and by the 1680s English authorities had seized two friars along with a large library and vestments. The Anton McDonagh chalice, inscribed for “the Convent of the Friars Minor of Ballymote” and dated 1688, is one of the few physical artefacts that survive. The ruins are also connected in local tradition to the Book of Ballymote, a fourteenth-century manuscript written in Irish that ranks among the most important texts in the Gaelic literary tradition. The talk will cover the architectural and historical significance of the site - expect a knowledgeable presenter and the chance to ask questions.
Ballymote sits in south County Sligo, roughly 30 km south of Sligo town via the N17. By car from Dublin, the M4/N5 route west through Longford and Boyle brings you in from the east. Bus Eireann serves Ballymote on the Sligo - Ballina corridor; check current timetables before you travel. The meeting point is the Catholic Church Car Park on Church Street, which is in the town centre - parking is available there and on the surrounding streets.
The town rewards a wander: Ballymote Castle, one of the best-preserved Anglo-Norman castles in Connacht, is a short walk from the friary ruins, and the Ballymote Heritage Trail links both sites with the old Corn Mill and other stops. There is more to see in Ballymote and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Catholic Church Car Park, Church Street in Ballymote? Sligo has plenty more to see. Read the Ballymote area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.