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Franciscan Friary and Church, Larne is a ruined ecclesiastical site in County Antrim, located on bedrock comprising Late Cretaceous chalk and sandstone of the Hibernian Greensands Formation and Ulster White Limestone Formation. The friary stands on a geological foundation typical of the Antrim plateau, where these soft sedimentary rocks underlie much of the surrounding landscape. The site's grounding in chalk and sand rather than harder basalt reflects its position within a distinct geological zone that shaped settlement patterns across the region.
The friary represents the establishment of a Franciscan community in Larne, reflecting the important role of mendicant orders in medieval and early modern Ireland. Franciscan friaries were typically located in market towns and urban centres, where they served both the local population and provided a focus for spiritual life. The ruins visible today preserve evidence of this religious foundation, though the exact date of establishment and subsequent history remain embedded in the architectural form.
The site is now protected as a scheduled monument under the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, registered under reference 2021. This designation recognises the friary's significance to the heritage of Larne and Northern Ireland. The surviving remains contribute to understanding the distribution of religious communities across the Irish coast and the historical importance of Larne as a medieval settlement.
Franciscan friary & church (in ruins) is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2021. View the official record →
Franciscan Friary and Church, Larne is a ruined ecclesiastical site in County Antrim, located on bedrock comprising Late Cretaceous chalk and sandstone of the Hibernian Greensands Formation and Ulster White Limestone Formation. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2021.
Franciscan friary & church (in ruins) dates from the modern period, and is classified as a ecclesiastical site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Franciscan friary & church (in ruins) is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 2021.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The mass rock, headless cross, headless cross, the priest's grave. cross-incised boulder - penal altar (7.4 km), Giant's grave. wedge tomb (7.5 km), Prehistoric flint quarry (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Franciscan friary & church (in ruins)'s history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Franciscan friary & church (in ruins) stands on Hibernian Greensands Formation And Ulster White Limestone Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Cretaceous. The rock here is chalk and sandstone.