churches historical galway

Spiddal Church; The Roman Catholic church in this village is renowned for its architectural excellence. Designed by William Scott and completed in 1904, it is Celtic Romenesque in style, an attempted revival of one of the great periods of Irish Architecture....

Pilgrim's Church; at the south-east corner of Gorumna Island is the church referred to as the - Pilgrim's Church - ....

The Protestant church built in 1820 is a fine structure which contains a silver copy of the famous Cross of Cong, placed there in memory of the late Sir William Murphy.

The Catholic church built in 1830 stands on the site of the famous clochan, or beehive-shaped monastic stone hut from which the town takes its name....

It is believed that when the French family came to Doorus in the 17th century they brought with them several Franciscans from Galway who were lodged in a renovated portion of this very old church. At the east end stands the impressive tomb of the French and de Basterot families....

Completed in 1819, this almost Spanish-looking church was built on land donated by James de Basterot of Duras....

A roughly square enclosure surrounded by a 6 ft high wall having, at two opposing corners, rounded bastions with arrow-slits. Remains of the gateway to the enclosure are preserved.
The wall resembles castle bawns, but inside, instead of a tower, there are just the remains of one central rectangular house and a number of subsidiary rectangular buildings.

Nothing is known about the history of the place, but it was possibly built by a retainer of the de Burgs as a fortified homestead...

Only one wall and a ruined west gable are left of this possibly medieval church. Next to this ruin is a very old graveyard, possibly medieval or later, which has also been used in more recent times as a children's burial ground.

What looks like a mere jumble of stones begins to take on a pattern the more carefully it is examined....

Dominated by St. Kierons statue, an enclosure is made by the positioning of several large stones, possibly the remnants of a vanished megalithic tomb. The shrine was the site of an all night vigil on the last Sunday in July, culminating with a Feis at Tracht....

Not the usual - Mass rock - this altar has been venerated in the area for a very long time. Originally a flagged path led to it.
According to local tradition and folklore studies, there was long ago a - college - near the site and the students most likely monks, were killed during Cromwellian times, and their heads thrown into a nearby chasm....

This church is also known as the church of Repatriation. It was built byb the Bellew's after one of the family members was killed in a duel, and therefore could not be buried in consecrated grounds. The church was built incorporating a burial vault for members of the Bellew family....