Dedicated to St Thomas a Becket, the friary was founded by the de Barry family, certainly by 1276, possibly by 1251. The de Barrys also protected the friars following the Reformation, so that the friars remained working in the area right up to the Cromwellian period. The friars returned at the Restoration, and there were at least two of them in residence during the eighteenth century. By 1800, there was only one old friar left, and he died soon afterwards.
The site – on the N20 – is on the main street beside the present Catholic Church.
Remains: the church and transept are complete, but the tower has fallen; many stones belonging to the cloister arcade are stored in the upper vault under the choir, while there are good carved stones in the lower vault; note the re-building of various windows in the church.
Articles on Buttevant Friary here
Other images available here