Monaghan (Co. Monaghan) / Muineachan
The exact site is uncertain and there are no significant remains. Monaghan was the site of one of the late Conventual foundations, about 1462. The MacMahons protected the friars. Although it had suffered an attack in 1540, the friary was not evacuated until it was sacked by an English army in 1589, by which time the community had become Observant. The friars returned about 1635 and, apart from the Cromwellian period, continued to reside in the town for most of that century. In the first half of the eighteenth century the community gradually dispersed and became involved in parish activity.
As the communities associated with the friaries of Monaghan and Lisgoole began to disperse towards the middle of the eighteenth century, the friars became more involved in parish work. As late as 1801 fifteen Franciscans were working in the diocese in areas such as Ballybay, Donaghmore, Lough Egish and Aughnamullen. The last friars associated with the area would be Fr. Thomas Martin, who worked around Ballytrain and died in 1849-50, and Fr. John McMahon, who lived at Chapel Moyle (Lough Egish) about 1845.
