St Mary's Cathedral, Tuam, Anglican cathedral in Tuam, Ireland.
St Mary's Cathedral in Tuam is an Anglican cathedral in County Galway, built in the Gothic Revival style with a medieval chancel and a Victorian nave. The chancel section is made of red sandstone and features a rounded Romanesque arch, while the nave was rebuilt in the 19th century in a contrasting style.
A church was founded on this site in 1101 when Tuam was made an archbishopric under the High King Turlough O'Connor. The Romanesque chancel that survives today was built shortly after, while the rest of the building was largely reconstructed in the 19th century.
The red sandstone chancel arch inside the building dates from the 12th century and is one of the rarest surviving examples of Romanesque work in Ireland. Visitors notice the sharp contrast between this old section and the Victorian-era nave that surrounds it.
The cathedral opens to visitors on Friday mornings and afternoons during summer, so it is worth checking ahead if you are planning a visit outside that period. The interior is compact and easy to navigate on foot, with the Romanesque chancel visible directly from the entrance.
The Romanesque chancel arch has no keystone and is instead held in place by two slightly inward-leaning columns that transfer the load through compression. This makes it one of the few surviving arches of its kind in Ireland still standing without a central locking stone.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
