Kilfenora Cathedral is dedicated to St. Fachtna (St. Fachanan) and the present structure dates to between 1189 and 1200.
It was built in the so-called transitional style with a nave and a chancel.
These were later separated and by 1839, "thirty-six feet of the east end" were roofless.

The nave is now used for worship by the Church of Ireland, for which it was reconstructed around 1850.
It features a bishop's throne, donated in 1981.
There is also a large square stone baptismal font (possibly from around 1200).
In addition, the church contains various tombs, but the interior is mostly devoid of ornamentation.

According to local tradition, the chancel was roofed with an oak ceiling (blue with gold start) until the end of the 18th century.
It is roofless today and features a 15th-century doorway, a 15th-century Gothic sedilia as well as a Romanesque three-light east window with its triangular pillars topped by carved capitals.
On both sides of the window is a carved effigy: a bishop with his right hand raised in blessing (possibly early 14th century), to the north; and a tonsured, bareheaded cleric holding a book (possibly 13th century) to the south.
The chancel also contains several tombs and the remains of high crosses.

The "Lady Chapel" (sacristy or chapter room) was in a rectangular wing leading to the north of the chancel.
It likely shares the building date of the main building and may have served as a sort of transept in the past.
Two lancet-type windows and a broken two-light one are left in the eastern wall.
There are also fragments of a high cross.

Today, the cathedral remains in partially ruined state, although restoration work was done by the National Monument Service in the early 2000s.
The transept was fitted with a glass roof in 2005 to protect the remains of the three high crosses moved there.

Although tradition maintains that there were once seven crosses, only the remains of five of them were extant in modern times (plus one from post-reformation times).
Three of those, including the one known as the "Doorty Cross", were located within the graveyard of the cathedral.
The Doorty Cross is so named, because its shaft was used as the tomb stone of the Doorty family grave until the 1950s when the two parts of this mid-12th century cross were reunited.
A shaft of a 13th- or 14th-century cross stood near the doorway of the cathedral (the "South Cross").
Near the graveyard gate was a simple cross (possibly dating from the 14th or 15th century).
The third cross is located within the chancel.
West of the graveyard and roughly halfway between the cathedral and the modern Catholic church is the fourth high cross (the "High Cross"), standing in a field.
The fifth cross ("Cross on the Hill") was removed in 1821, by Dr. Richard Mant, Bishop of Kilfenora and Killaloe, to Killaloe, County Clare where it is still on display at St. Flannan's Cathedral and known as the "Kilfenora High Cross".

In 2003, three high crosses from the site were removed for conservation by the Office of Public Works and from 2005 have been on display in the transept of the cathedral; amongst them the "Doorty Cross".
Kilfenora Cathedral is dedicated to St. Fachtna (St. Fachanan) and the present structure dates to between 1189 and 1200. It was built in the so-called transitional style with a nave and a chancel. These were later separated and by 1839, "thirty-six feet of the east end" were roofless.
The nave is now used for worship by the Church of Ireland, for which it was reconstructed around 1850. It features a bishop's throne, donated in 1981. There is also a large square stone baptismal font (possibly from around 1200). In addition, the church contains various tombs, but the interior is mostly devoid of ornamentation.
According to local tradition, the chancel was roofed with an oak ceiling (blue with gold start) until the end of the 18th century. It is roofless today and features a 15th-century doorway, a 15th-century Gothic sedilia as well as a Romanesque three-light east window with its triangular pillars topped by carved capitals. On both sides of the window is a carved effigy: a bishop with his right hand raised in blessing (possibly early 14th century), to the north; and a tonsured, bareheaded cleric holding a book (possibly 13th century) to the south. The chancel also contains several tombs and the remains of high crosses.
The "Lady Chapel" (sacristy or chapter room) was in a rectangular wing leading to the north of the chancel. It likely shares the building date of the main building and may have served as a sort of transept in the past. Two lancet-type windows and a broken two-light one are left in the eastern wall. There are also fragments of a high cross.
Today, the cathedral remains in partially ruined state, although restoration work was done by the National Monument Service in the early 2000s. The transept was fitted with a glass roof in 2005 to protect the remains of the three high crosses moved there.
Although tradition maintains that there were once seven crosses, only the remains of five of them were extant in modern times (plus one from post-reformation times). Three of those, including the one known as the "Doorty Cross", were located within the graveyard of the cathedral. The Doorty Cross is so named, because its shaft was used as the tomb stone of the Doorty family grave until the 1950s when the two parts of this mid-12th century cross were reunited. A shaft of a 13th- or 14th-century cross stood near the doorway of the cathedral (the "South Cross"). Near the graveyard gate was a simple cross (possibly dating from the 14th or 15th century). The third cross is located within the chancel. West of the graveyard and roughly halfway between the cathedral and the modern Catholic church is the fourth high cross (the "High Cross"), standing in a field. The fifth cross ("Cross on the Hill") was removed in 1821, by Dr. Richard Mant, Bishop of Kilfenora and Killaloe, to Killaloe, County Clare where it is still on display at St. Flannan's Cathedral and known as the "Kilfenora High Cross".
In 2003, three high crosses from the site were removed for conservation by the Office of Public Works and from 2005 have been on display in the transept of the cathedral; amongst them the "Doorty Cross".
Kilfenora