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The remains of the old friary have been incorporated into the present parish church acros the road from the present friary; N.B. – the unusual tower, riding on the church wall, and the carved figures around the church door.
The first superior of Carrickbeg friary, John Clynn, has left us his annals, so we can state that it was founded in 1336 by James Butler Earl of Desmond. It wa an early victim of the Suppression and was vacant for nearly a hundred years until the friars returned to the area in 1644. Soon expelled by the Cromwellians, the friars returned in 1669. They built a thatched house, and later a thatched chapel, in the grounds of the present friary. Following and ‘accident’ a proper church was built in 1822 and extended in 1839-49. The convent was added in 1896.