clonfert cathedral

The original monastery was founded here by St. Brendan in 563 and it is here that this great navigating saint is buried. The earliest part of the present church dates to the 12th century. Its doorway is the crowning achievement of Irish Romanesque decoration.

It is in six orders, and has an amazing variety of motifs, animal heads, foliage, human heads etc. Above the doorway is a pointed hood enclosing triangles alternating with bizarre human heads, and below this is an arcade enclosing more human heads. The early 13th century east windows in the chancel can be numbered among the best late Romanesque windows.

The chancel arch was inserted in the 15th century, and is decorated with angels, a rosette and a mermaid carrying a mirror. The supporting arches of the tower at the west end of the church are also decorated with 15th century heads, and the innermost order of the Romanesque doorway was also inserted at this time.

The sacristy is also 15th century. The church had a Romanesque south transept which is now in ruins, and a Gothic north transept which has been removed.