St. Nicholas

History

A Franciscan friary stood in Carrickfergus on the site later occupied by the county jail of Co. Antrim, where the yard behind the Town Hall was afterwards situated. Its foundation is attributed to Hugh de Lacy, whom King John created Earl of Ulster in 1205; he is said to have erected the friary in 1232 and to have been interred there in 1243. The Annals of the Four Masters record that in 1497 the friary was reformed to the Franciscan order of Strict Observance. A manuscript written about 1630 by Father Francis Ward states that the convent was suppressed in 1560, the friars driven off and dispersed and some of them killed, and that it remained vacant until 1626, when a residence was erected in the district. When the jail foundations were sunk in 1776 human bones, an altar bell and several gold rings were uncovered, and in 1805 a small brazen crucifix was dug up nearby.

In "the time of persecution", as O'Laverty refers to it, no priest resided in Carrickfergus. Local tradition holds that Mass was celebrated at a place near the Commons called The Priest's Bush and at a spot on the Commons known as Craig-na-brathair, or "The Friar's Rock". At the Friar's Well, at the end of Stony Glen, Knockagh, Mass was celebrated during the prevalence of the Penal Laws. A census of the town in 1692 counted 469 persons apart from the alderman, burgesses and corporation officers, of whom 71 were noted as Roman Catholic.

Notable features

The parish's own history records that the O'Neill Chalice, dated 1632 and inscribed in Latin "f. Paulus O'Neill caraud pro Conventu Carfergus fieri 1632", is still in the possession of the parish; the inscription records that Brother Paul O'Neill was responsible for having it made on behalf of the monastery of Carrickfergus. Father Paul O'Neill was elected Guardian of the Franciscans at Carrickfergus on 15 August 1629 and heads the list of Guardians (Superiors) in the Franciscan records; the parish history states that it is almost certain that this Father Paul is the same person whose name appears on the chalice.

Notable people

Hugh de Lacy, created Earl of Ulster by King John in 1205, is credited with founding the Carrickfergus friary and was buried there in 1243. McSkimmin's History of Carrickfergus lists the Roman Catholic clergy known to have officiated in the town, beginning with Father Edmund Moore, ordained by Archbishop Plunkett in 1669 and recorded as officiating at Carrickfergus in 1732 at the age of 86, with charge of districts now covered by the parishes of Carrickfergus, Larne, Ballyclare and Glenarm.