Longford Cathedral gutted by fire

[Yellow_Belle]

Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Colm O’Reilly has said St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford is destroyed.

He said that the building is just a shell and it’s burned out from end to end.

He said it was a dreadful day for him personally and quite devastating.

Bishop O’Reilly said that construction began on the Cathedral in the 1840 and he described it as a flagship Cathedrals of the midlands.

He said it was an extraordinary achievement at the time. He said that the building was so central to Longford’s history.

SOURCE with pics

Not a great time for the Church in Ireland

 

[feargalmac]

I pray it wasn’t malicious.

 

[NPC]

This has been a very sad Christmas morning for me, having heard about St Mel’s. Although Ardagh and Clonmacnoise is not my home diocese, I am very familiar with Longford and the Cathedral as my mother and her family are from the town. It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful cathedral in the country. The interior was stunning - it seems it has all been destroyed. It was full of life-sized statues of the saints, beautiful stations of the Cross (very rich artwork), some famous Harry Clarke stained-glass windows… I had the pleasure of playing the organ there a number of times too - alas, there’s no chance that pipes of wood, lead, zinc and tin could have withstood the heat of the fire. Devastating is the only word for it.

I can only hope that people will rally around the Bishop, the Most Rev’d Colm O’Reilly, and give any support they can. I hope that the main structure of the building will be salvageable. Given that extensive work will now have to be done, however, I would suggest that the bishop re-instate the old high altar which was relegated to the crypt a number of decades ago when the time comes to look at new plans for the building - a great injustice was done to the character of the building when it was removed…

Anyway, such plans are some way down the road at the present, I imagine. I hope we will all keep Bishop O’Reilly and the priests and people of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise in our prayers this Christmas. Thanks be to God that no one was injured.

 

[GraceSofia]

This is very sad. To say it is tragic is probably not exaggerating.
I hope it wasn’t arson. I’m afraid a lot of people have no idea of the valuable art and treasures of civilization that are in Catholic churches.

The Cathedral, which was built in 1856, featured priceless stained glass windows designed by the famed Harry Clarke, an invaluable “Second Coming” tapestry behind the Bishop’s throne created by sacred art specialist Ray Carroll, and an 1860 belfry and an 1889 portico, both considered among the great architectural structures of any church in Ireland

irishcentral.com/news/Fire-destroys-Irish-national-treasures–80130807.html