Corcomroe Abbey is beautifully situated on the edge of the rocky hills of the Burren. It was founded for Cistercian monks around 1195 as a daughter house of the Abbey at Inisloughnaght, Co. Tipperary. The church was constructed in the early 13th century and consists of a nave with an aisle on the south side. It appears that it was intended to construct a similar aisle on the north side of the nave, but this may never have been completed, perhaps due to a lack of funds.
At the east end is a presbytery or chancel with a decorated ribbed vault lit by narrow lancet windows. There is a north and south transept, each with a single chapel. Where the presbytery and transepts meet, there are several crossing arches that feature capitals with some wonderful carvings of human heads and flowers, including poppies, lily-of-the-valleys and lotus. In the chancel is a highly decorated sedilia and the effigy tomb of Conor O’Brien (d. 1268), king of the ancient territory of Thomond and descendant of the founders and benefactors of the abbey.
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