The country around the village of Quin has many archaeological remains , the most notable being the franciscan friary (remains). The first building that we know of on this site was a church , and then on the site de Clare built a castle in 1280 A.D. This was attacked and destroyed by the native Irish , and the present church was built on the site (c.1350 A.D.) , incorporating some parts of the castle ruins. One of the Macnamara's , the local ruling family , brought the franciscans to Quin c.1433 A.D. ; the last of them died in 1820 and is buried in the ruins.

The surrounding countryside has many ruined castles of the Macnamara's , and the spot on which they were inaugurated : now a flat-topped mound surrounded by a bank and ditch and called Magh Adhair. Brian Boru was inaugurated as King of Thomond here , as were many other Dal gCais rulers.

Nearby is a large ringfort. It was near Quin that a huge hoard of prehistoric gold was found by labourers on the Limerick-Ennis Railway in 1854 ; a few examples were saved , but most of the objects were sold and melted. This was the largest find of prehistoric gold objects in Europe.

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