Galway Cathedral

Lording over the River Corrib, imposing Galway Cathedral was dedicated by the late Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston in 1965. The cathedral's unwieldy full name is the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, but its high, curved arches and central dome have a simple, solid elegance even if the greater whole feels rather sterile (although a side chapel with a mosaic of the Resurrection does include a praying JFK in the tableau). The superb acoustics are best appreciated during an organ recital (program dates are posted on the website).

From the Spanish Arch, a riverside path runs upriver and across the Salmon Weir Bridge to the cathedral.