Kilcrea Friary, Medieval Franciscan abbey in Ovens, Ireland

Kilcrea Friary is a ruined Franciscan abbey near Ovens, County Cork, built of rough grey and brown rubble masonry. Its church has a nave, chancel, south transept and an L-shaped aisle, with a tall square tower at the west end. The large east window has lost its tracery, and a pointed arched doorway opens in the south wall. The cloister and two-storey ranges lie to the north.

Franciscan friars established this religious center in 1465 under the patronage of Cormac Láidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry. The monastery grew into an important spiritual institution that maintained its prominence throughout the medieval period and beyond.

The name Kilcrea comes from the Irish Cill Chré, 'Cell of Cyra', after a sixth-century abbess said to have founded a nunnery east of the friary; legend places her burial at the centre of the choir. The grounds have been used for general burial since the early 17th century, and the graves of Art Ó Laoghaire, subject of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill's lament, and Bishop Thomas O'Herlahy lie among the ruins.

Kilcrea Friary stands in open countryside near Ovens, County Cork, with Kilcrea Castle in ruin to the west. The graveyard within the ruins is still in use, so visitors should keep to the paths among the graves. The tower is climbed by steep, winding stairs; the cloister ranges are roofless and the ground uneven.

The 15th-century Rennes Manuscript, written at Kilcrea and now held in Rennes, France, runs to 125 folios of poor-quality parchment and is an important example of Dinshenchas. A small oval late-medieval reliquary, about 2.5 inches across, was also found on the site, inscribed "IN HOC SIGNUM VINCE" on one side and "EICCE BENEDICTUS AGNUS DEI" on the reverse, with rope mouldings looped for a carrying chain.