Timoleague Friary (), also known as Timoleague Abbey, is a ruined medieval Franciscan friary in Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland, on the banks of the Argideen River overlooking Courtmacsherry Bay. It was built on the site of an early Christian monastic site founded by Saint Molaga, from whom the town of Timoleague derives its name. The present remains date from roughly the turn of the fourteenth century and were burnt down by British forces in the mid-seventeenth century, at which point it was an important ecclesiastical centre that engaged in significant trade with Spain. The friary is the largest medieval ruin in West Cork and one of the few early Franciscan friaries in Ireland to have substantial ruins. It is claustral in layout, and built in the Early English Gothic architectural style. It contains several elements atypical of Franciscan architecture of the period, including wall passages and exterior access to its upper floor. It was significantly altered in the early 16th and early 17th centuries. Several historical artefacts are associated with the friary, and during the Romantic era it was depicted in several notable artworks. History Monastic site The friary sits on a monastic site dedicated to Saint Molaga dating to either the 6th or 7th century. According to legend, this settlement was originally to be formed a mile west of Timoleague, but all work done on that site by day would fall down by morning. Interpreting this as God's will that the friary be built elsewhere, Molaga supposedly placed a blessed candle on a sheaf of corn, and set it down the Argideen River, building his settlement on the spot that it came ashore, in an area overlooking Courtmacsherry Bay. The town derives its Irish name, or "Molaga's House" from the saint. Foundation and early history The date of foundation by the Franciscans is disputed. Documentary evidence places the foundation of the friary between 1307 and 1316, though physical evidence suggests that a preexisting 13th-century building was incorporated into the site. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, the friary was founded in 1240 by the MacCarthy Reagh family. This has been identified as possibly being too early. Some sources ascribe this claimed foundation to Domhnall Got MacCarthy, while others claim that Got MacCarthy merely expanded the friary anywhere between 1312 and 1366. Domhnall's grandson, Domhnall Glas MacCarthy, is also thought to have been a patron of the friary.