6 Best Sights in County Clare, Galway, and the Aran Islands, Ireland

Beside the Burren Centre in Kilfenora, the ruins of a small 12th-century church, once the Cathedral of St. Fachtna, have been partially restored as a parish church. Over the transept, a glass ceiling protects High Crosses and effigies from the harsh elements. Note the impressive Doorty Cross in the Lady's Chapel. There are some interesting carvings in the roofless choir, including an unusual, life-size human skeleton. In the chancel, there is an impressive east-facing window with ancient carvings. In a field, about 165 feet west of the ruins is an elaborately sculpted High Cross that is worth examining, though parts of it are badly weathered. Visit early evening when the High Crosses are illuminated to get a clearer view of their intricacies and scale.

Signposted to the southeast of the quay, the Church of Kevin is a small, early Christian church that gets buried in sand by storms every winter. Each year the islanders dig it out of the sand for the celebration of St. Kevin's Day on June 14.

Dominating Galway City's skyline for more than half a century with its massive, green, copper dome, Galway Cathedral's hulking brick exterior has had a mixed reception from critics since its construction. Inside, the limestone walls draw the eye up, while the stained-glass windows and the dome's light-filled contour add a heavenly perspective.

Built by the O'Brien clan in the early 13th century, Killaloe Cathedral is the most prominent landmark in the town's streetscape. Inside the cathedral you can see rare carvings including a Kilfenora Cross and the Thorgrim Stone, which has unique runic and ogham inscriptions.

Capture the cathedral's beauty from across the lake in Ballina.

Built by the Anglo-Normans in 1320 and enlarged by members of the 14 tribes when they were at their most powerful during the 16th century, the church contains many fine carvings of lions, mermaids, and gargoyles dating from the late Middle Ages, and it's one of the best-preserved medieval churches in Ireland. Columbus prayed here on a visit to Galway in 1477. On Saturday morning a street market, held in the pedestrian way beside the church, attracts dozens of vendors and hundreds of shoppers.

In a small annex at the Church of the Little Ark, just outside the tiny village of Kilbaha, is a wonderfully quirky slice of local history. During penal times Roman Catholic parishioners were restricted access to church, so Father Michael Meehan came up with the idea of holding mass in "no man's land" or rather, no man's sea, much to the frustration of local landlords. The little ark was the size of a carriage and fully assembled by 1852, when it was pulled into the shallow waters of a local cove, where locals could worship uninterrupted.