Ardfert Cathedral, County Kerry

At Ardfert, near Tralee in County Kerry, stand the ruins of a 12th-century cathedral. Built on the site of an early monastery founded by St. Brendan the Navigator in the 6th century, it was originally a Catholic church and later became part of the Protestant Church of Ireland after the Reformation. The tall, pointed arches and long stone walls reveal how large and important the cathedral once was before it was damaged in the 17th century and fell into ruin. In front of the ruins lies a graveyard filled with Celtic crosses and headstones, showing that the site remained a place of worship and remembrance for many centuries.