GPS: 52.678264 -7.816988
Possible Location: in the town on R660 (Friar Street).
The friars of Cashel were renting a house in Thurles from the Matthews family in 1714. By 1740 the community seems to have moved permanently from Cashel to Thurles. There were usually two or three friars living in a small cottage with a private oratory. There was no public church. The friars helped out at the Cathedral. The most famous friar in Thurles during the 1800s was Fr James (Theodosius) McNamara, who lived there from 1834 to his death in 1881. Efforts to close the residence in Thurles in 1859 were strongly resisted by the archbishop. By then the friars had become chaplains to the workhouse. A decision to close the house was taken at the Provincial Chapter in 1892 and the last friar of Thurles, Fr Pacificus Doggette, was moved to Multyfarnham.
