St Mary’s Cathedral in Tuam, Co Galway is a veritable shrine of Romanesque art, writes Roger Stalley
The Romanesque era produced some of the most delightful yet puzzling sculptures of the medieval past. Sadly, nearly all such carving has long been exposed to the vagaries of the Irish weather, so we are left to admire whatever has survived centuries of damage or decay. There is, however, one place where the carvings remain almost as fresh as the day they left the mason’s bench. Perfectly preserved stone sculpture from the 12th century sounds too good to be true, but this is exactly what can be found deep in the heart of St Mary’s Cathedral at Tuam. Although constructed in the 1860s, the cathedral contains parts of the original Romanesque church. Behind the altar are three ancient windows, framed by an exotic array of carvings; these are not well known for the simple reason that visitors must venture (with permission) into the sanctuary to get a proper view, ideally armed with a torch.
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