clonfert

A twelfth-century cathedral (St. Brendan's) with thirteenth-century extensions. Despoiled in the sixteenth century, it was clumsily restored at various times afterwards and now serves as the Protestant parish church of Clonfert. The carved decoration, inside and out, is of exceptional quality, and the great west doorway ranks as the masterwork of Irish Romanesque art. Built in warm-toned sandstone, it is composed of six orders (the seventh, innermost order in limestone is a fifteenth-century insertion) and is notable for the exaggerated splay of the jambs.

The variety of ornamental devices is remarkable, and eclectic inventory of the stone mason's repertoire comprising geometric designs, human and animal heads, interlace patterns and foliage. Above the arch is a pediment-like hood, the gable of which is filled with carved heads set in triangular niches and supported on a panel of blind arcading. Many of the motifs and architectural features are rare in Irish Romanesque and some are unique to Clonfert.