The Black Friary facts for kids

The Black Friary (Irish: An Mhainistir Dhubh) was a special kind of monastery called a Dominican friary. It was located in Trim, County Meath, in Ireland. Friaries were homes for groups of religious people called friars, who were a bit different from monks because they often traveled and worked among the people in towns.

The Black Friary's Story

The Black Friary was likely started in 1263 by a person named Geoffrey de Geneville. It was built just outside the old walls of Trim town. Geoffrey de Geneville later retired to this friary and was buried there in 1314.

This friary was very important to Trim. It owned a lot of land and was a place where important religious and government meetings happened from the 1200s to the 1400s.

Why the Friary Closed

By 1540, a big change happened in Ireland and England called the Dissolution of the Monasteries. King Henry VIII decided to close down many monasteries and friaries. The Black Friary was shut down, and its lands, buildings, and belongings were sold off.

Later, in the 1700s, people even took stones from the old friary buildings to use for other constructions. However, the grounds continued to be used as a special cemetery called a cillín for a long time.

Discovering the Black Friary's Secrets

Today, the Black Friary site is owned by Meath County Council. Since 2010, the Blackfriary Archaeology Field School has been carefully digging and studying the site. This work is called an archaeological excavation.

Finola O'Carroll has been leading these excavations since 2010. Dr. Rachel E. Scott, from DePaul University in Chicago, joined in 2012 to study the human bones found there. This is called bioarchaeology or osteoarchaeology.

What Archaeologists Have Found

Each year, students from Ireland and other countries, along with local community members, help with the digs. They have found parts of the friary's buildings and many burials both inside and outside the old church.

Recent digs have shown that the friary had two main courtyards, called cloisters. The main cloister, which was next to the church, had fancy arches made from a special stone called Purbeck Marble. Finding this type of marble here is very rare in Ireland!

The excavations are still ongoing, and they continue to reveal more about how the buildings were laid out. It looks like there might have been a scriptorium (a room where books were copied) and a chapter house (a meeting room) in the eastern part of the friary.

Helping the Community Learn About History

The Blackfriary Archaeology Field School works closely with the Blackfriary Community Heritage and Archaeology Project (BCHAP). This project aims to make the six-acre site a great place for both local people and visitors to learn about history and enjoy the area.