St.Brendans Cathedral, Loughrea /Tour

Guided Tour led by Gerard McInerney

Saturday 9th October 16:00

St Brendan’s Cathedral, Loughrea, built in 1903 at the height of the Celtic Revival contains the finest collection of Arts and Crafts inspired stained glass, carvings and embroideries.

Guided Tour led by Gerard MC Inerney

The Cathedral of St. Brendan, Loughrea, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert. Though designed in neo-gothic style, it arguably houses the most extensive collection of arts and crafts and Celtic Revival artifacts of any single building in Ireland. Its most noteworthy feature is the extensive collection of stained glass windows by the Dublin-based An Túr Gloine studio. There are also twenty-four embroidered banners, mostly depicting Irish saints as well as vestments by the Dun Emer Guild. Sculptors represented are John Hughes (sculptor) and Michael Shortall, and the architect William Alphonsus Scott also contributed designs for metalwork and woodwork.[1] The foundation stone was laid on 10 October 1897 and the structure was completed in 1902; most of the interior features date from the first decade on the twentieth century with the exception of the stained glass windows which continued to be commissioned up until the 1950s.