Greyfriars
Where St Patrick's Day Began

Did you know?

1

Waterford was once known as Parva Roma

That means Little Rome. It was called this because of the large number of Churches and the locals devotion to the Catholic faith.

The Greyfriars were founded by St Francis of Assisi

2

In 1209, Francis founded the Franciscans, known in English as the 'Greyfriars'. Francis was known for devoting himself to poverty and walked barefoot in rough robes preaching across Italy.

3

Luke Wadding was a polyglot!

Luke Wadding was an impressive scholar and a polyglot - meaning he could speak multiple languages such as English, Latin, Spanish and French.

Greyfriars
Timeline

1588

Luke Wadding was born in Waterford to an Old English family. His mother died of plague when he was still young.

1604

Luke left Ireland for Portugal. He became a Franciscan monk in 1607 and was ordained as a priest in 1613.

1618

Wadding was sent to Rome as chaplain to the Spanish ambassador to the Papal States. In 1630, he was made Procurator of the Order of Friars Minor (Greyfriars) in Rome.