Knocktopher
4.5 km beyond Jerpoint Abbey is another village associated with a different great Order of the medieval church. A foundation was made here by the Earl of Ormond, James Butler, for the Carmelite Order of Friars in 1356. Although suppressed by 1540, the Carmelites continued to replace and appoint friars to serve the area until they were finally expelled in Cromwell's wake in 1654.
Nonetheless, the convent called St. Saviour's, was in being as recently as 1737 in a tradition repeated by this dedicated Order elsewhere. The tower and doorway of St. Saviour's still stand but some of the friary remnants have been included in a more recent residence. The Carmelites have a house and church in the village.
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