The name Kilcrea means the Church of Cré, a woman who founded a hermitage here before the time of the Franciscans. The name Kilcrea (Irish: Cill Chre) means the Cell of Cere, Cera or Cyra. Saint Cyra, lived in the 6th century, and is said to have founded a nunnery about a mile east of the friary in the parish of St Owen's, now called Ovens.