The Observant Friars in Ireland: Between piety, obedience and ambition

This paper focuses on the Observant movement among Augustinian and Franciscan Orders in Ireland, which as elsewhere, promoted strict discipline and return to the core values of the respective orders. However, in Ireland the introduction of the Observant reform coincided with the Gaelic resurgence and led to new foundations and the creation of parallel Observant administrative structures, a situation which had both religious and political resonances. This multidisciplinary paper provides detailed case studies of places and personages with a view of offering a fresh look at primary evidence. The overarching aim of the paper is to demonstrate that the reform was both an ideal and a living reality that at times may have been fuelled more by ambition than any adherence to mendicant principles.