Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Belclare

The ruins of the old church, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, are situated 200 yards away from the present Belclare Church in a place called Churchfriar, which was the site of an ancient Franciscan Monastery, founded with the help of the De Burgo's in 1291.

Belclare is the curacy of the parish of Corofin and the longest serving curate was Fr. Varden (1919 - 1931) whose tombstone is the only one beside the new church.

The first curate, Fr. Pat Canavan served as C.C. in Claretuam as it was then called,1812 - 1816, when he became P.P. of Corofin until his death in 1856,spending most of forty years in Belclare and his fine tomb is in Churchfriar, beside the ruins of the old church which he reroofed after it was stripped on the Night of the Big Wind, 6 Jan. 1839.

One of the many other curates to have served here is the present Archbishop of Tuam, Most Rev.Dr. Michael Neary who was here 1975 -'76.