Irish cathedral fire

Gardaí have begun their on-site investigation of the remains of St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford town, which was destroyed by fire early on Christmas Day . . .

Precious and irreplaceable artefacts which were on display at the diocesan ecclesiastical museum at the cathedral were destroyed in the fire.

Raghnall Ó Floinn, head of collections at the National Museum of Ireland, said there were some important pieces among the 500 or so kept at the diocesan museum at the cathedral.

The most important were the Crozier of St Mel, the patron saint of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, dating from the 10th century, and also the book shrine of St Caillin, dating to 1536 [12th-century, remade in the 16th -- D.]. . .

Also in the collection was St Caillin’s Bell, known as the Bell of Fenagh.

Posted by David on January 7, 2010 11:18 PM