Tuam lies 32km north of Galway City on the N17 major
route. It owes its origin according to legend, to the broken
chariot wheel which St. Jarlath took as a sign to found his
monastic settlement here in the 5th century. Tuam, the
probable capital of Ireland during the 12th century, when
the High King Rory O’Connor was in residence. During this
period the O’Connors endowed Tuam with the processional
Cross of Cong (now in the National Museum), and are
associated with the ornamental High Crosses (now in St.
Mary’s Cathedral). Tuam's location on the N17 makes it a
natural dormitory town of Galway city, but it also has many
fine local industries.
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Tuam is best known as a centre of church affairs, ancient
and modern and has two cathedrals. The town owes its
foundation to a monastery established here in the 6th
century by St. Jarlath; ruins of Temple Jarlath, in the
centre of the city, date from around 1360. The 14' 12
century High Cross of Tuam, a decorated sandstone piece, was
once broken in three, with each piece in different
ownership. It is now situated in the rebuilt (1878) Church
of Ireland cathedral, which has a magnificent red sandstone
chancel arch in laboured Romanesque, erected certainly
between 1128 and 1152.
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