St. Mary’s Galway

The Dominicans, in 1488, established their Priory outside the walled city, becoming deeply intertwined with the ancient Claddagh fishing community. In 1685, after years of persecution, and during a short period of peace, the number recorded in the Galway community was twelve priests, five novices and two lay-brothers. However, in 1698 every bishop and religious in the country was ordered into exile by a parliamentary Act of Banishment. Even at this juncture, Galway proved unusual among the Dominican houses of Ireland. The community entrusted its goods and valuables to a merchant named Valentine Browne and managed to preserve a detailed inventory of the transaction. The Galway Dominican nuns’ cloister had at that time been broken open and they were forced to wear lay clothing, but by a curious omission nuns were not mentioned at all in the act of banishment. And so they stayed.

A list compiled in 1735 names 14 Dominicans of Galway, of whom only four were resident in Galway itself. The others were in various parts of the continent, except for one who had found his way to the Indies. In 1756 there were nine. Ironically, while the number of friars of all Orders increased under the penal laws up to 1744, they dropped gradually thereafter, largely because of the decree of Propaganda Fide (1750) forbidding the future reception of novices in Ireland. This gradual decline continued for a full century. The country priories, for example most of those in Connacht, eventually ceased to exist. Those, like Galway, in towns or cities were better able to survive.

Fr James Thomas French OP, built a new Galway priory in 1792 and a new church in 1800 to replace the “thatched chapel”. The church survived until 1890.

The current Claddagh Church in Galway was built in 1890. It was designed by William Hague and is located on the Claddagh Quay. This is the third church to be built on the site, following the church built in 1800 and an earlier one that was demolished in 1651.

Mass Times

Sundays: 7:20am, 10:00am, 12:00 midday, 17:00 (Polish), 19:30
Weekdays: 7:20am, 10:00am
Saturdays: 10:00am

Confession Times

Saturdays: After the 10:00am Mass