Cathedral marks 150th anniversary

St Mary's Cathedral in Killarney, designed by the architect Augustus Pugin, is tonight celebrating the 150th anniversary of its…

St Mary's Cathedral in Killarney, designed by the architect Augustus Pugin, is tonight celebrating the 150th anniversary of its consecration.

Considered Pugin's favourite project and one of the finest neo-Gothic cathedrals in Europe, St Mary's was conceived after Catholic emancipation in 1829.

The diocese of Kerry, which includes parts of north and west Cork, had been without a cathedral for 200 years.

Construction was interrupted by the Great Famine, when the unfinished building became a shelter for the sick and dying.There are famine memorials and graves in the grounds of the cathedral.

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Over the past year, the 85-metre (280ft) spire has been repaired and new paving laid. Large plasma screens have also been set high over the aisles to allow Mass-goers a fuller view of the altar and a loop sound system for the hard of hearing is being installed in the €1 million works.