Wesley Stone

John Wesley, Founder of the Methodist Church, preached to the people of Adare in 1756 from the shade of an ash tree close to the east wall of the Franciscan friary. This tree was still there until about 1860. Today a stone marks the site where this tree stood and the Methodists hold a ceremony here in June each year.

The Stone is located on the Adare Manor Golf Course and the Golf Club closes play on the morning the Field Meeting in June each year to allow the Methodist people and their friends to maintain an unbroken tradition of holding this event, which goes back to 1819.

In 1794 the first Methodist chapel in Adare was built on the north side of the road to Patrickswell in the townland of Gortaganniff. The road has since been rerouted, and the site of the chapel is now marked with a stone ( as shown here ) on the fifth fairway of the course in Adare Manor Golf Club. No picture of this building survives, but it was probably of the same simple style as other Methodist chapels of the period.