Skip to content
Tuam.ie
Churches · Bishop Street · Tuam

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a church on Bishop Street in Tuam, County Galway, 370 m east of the Square. Mercy Secondary School, Patrice's and St. Jarlath's College are within 164 m.

Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Tuam on Bishop Street, built 1827 to 1837 once the Penal Laws eased, nearly three centuries after the old cathedral was lost at the Reformation.

From the Square
370 m east, 7 min on foot
Parking
Cathedral Car Park, 48 m away
Bus stop
Tuam (Vicar Street Cathedral), 146 m away

The map does not yet record a phone number, a website or opening hours for Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Anyone can add them on OpenStreetMap; this page picks the change up at the next refresh.

Plan of the streets around Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 340 metres across
The building in black is this one; drag to turn the model.Open the whole town
Plan of the surrounding 300 mPlan of the streets around Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 340 metres across

The story of Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Tuam's Catholic cathedral is the younger of the town's two by seven centuries, and the reason is the Reformation. Until then the diocese worshipped at St Mary's, the fourteenth-century church on High Street. When Elizabeth I appointed William Mullaly as Archbishop of Tuam for the established church, the Catholic clergy lost the building, and under the Penal Laws they had no prospect of replacing it.

It took almost three hundred years. When the laws were relaxed in the early nineteenth century the archdiocese built again, this time on Bishop Street, and the Cathedral of the Assumption went up between 1827 and 1837. It is the seat of an archdiocese that reaches across half of County Galway, half of County Mayo and part of Roscommon. A statue of Archbishop John MacHale, the nineteenth-century archbishop who also bought the land for St Jarlath's College, stands at the cathedral.

On the model it sits 370 metres east of the Square, with the cathedral car park beside it and the Vicar Street bus stop a short walk away; St Mary's, the older cathedral, is 527 metres west across the town centre.

Written from Wikipedia, "Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tuam" and Wikipedia, "Tuam" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-18). Facts only from those sources; the words are ours.

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in pictures

The Cathedral of the Assumption on Bishop Street
The Cathedral of the Assumption on Bishop Street
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The cathedral from the south-east
The cathedral from the south-east
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The nave, looking west
The nave, looking west
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Archbishop John MacHale's statue outside the cathedral
Archbishop John MacHale's statue outside the cathedral
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Getting to Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On foot
7 minutes from the Square, 0.53 km along the streets, ending on Bishop Street.
By car
Park at Cathedral Car Park, 48 m away. Tuam is 30 km from Galway city on the N17.
By bus
The nearest stop is Tuam (Vicar Street Cathedral), 146 m away.
Directions from where you are
Open the model above, tap the pin and choose “Directions here”; the route is drawn from your own position.

While you are there

8 places to eat and drink within 300 m: Abbey (199 m), McGinty's (213 m), Leaf and Bean (237 m) and Krugers Bar (238 m) and more.

8 shops within 300 m, including Patrice's, Vincent's and NCBI.

Bishop Street itself has 4 named places on the map, and 3 car parks along it.

Within a short walk

  1. 142 m
  2. Patrice's
    Beauty
    158 m
  3. 164 m
  4. Vincent's
    Charity shops
    166 m
  5. Abbey
    Cafés
    199 m
  6. NCBI
    Charity shops
    206 m
  7. 208 m
  8. 211 m

Also on Bishop Street

  1. Patrice's
    Beauty
  2. Vincent's
    Charity shops

Everything on Bishop Street

Other churches in Tuam

  1. 527 m

All 2 churches in Tuam

Questions people ask

Where is Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
On Bishop Street in Tuam, 370 m east of the Square; the nearest car park is 48 m away.
What is the history of Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Tuam on Bishop Street, built 1827 to 1837 once the Penal Laws eased, nearly three centuries after the old cathedral was lost at the Reformation. The full story is above.
How far is Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the centre of Tuam?
7 minutes on foot from the Square, 0.53 km by the streets; 370 m as the crow flies.
Are there other churches nearby?
1 other church in Tuam; the closest is Saint Marys Cathedral, 527 m away.

Source record: OpenStreetMap way/629885070, read on 2026-09-18. The street is the mapped address where there is one, otherwise the nearest named road. Distances are straight lines.