Expert opinion dates the friary of Wicklow to about 1265, while oral tradition tells us that it was built in thanksgiving for a victory over the FitzGeralds by the O’Tooles and O’Byrnes. It is not certain when the community adopted the Observant reform, nor when the friars had to leave the district. By 1615, we know that the area had been long deserted by the friars. They returned about 1635, were expelled by the Cromwellians, and returned again in 1659. However the new community was not energetic and Franciscan life in Wicklow died out early in the eighteenth century.
