ENCOUNTERING St Mary's Church of Ireland cathedral in Tuam, Co Galway during 1984 was an immensely sad experience. Lime was seeping from between the blocks of its bell tower, staining walls as it streamed down. It was as if the building was crying because of growing dilapidation.
Stepping inside, under a leaking roof making a feeble effort to protect its interior, was like walking into a fridge. The musty coolness was the dominant sensation. Bizarre stalactites dangled from arches, generated by more lime and the almost constant drip of rainwater. Stone blocks felt as if they would break much as a knife cuts through hard icecream.
It could have been a metaphor for the decline in the Church of Ireland population in the Tuam parish, as there was at best a dozen parishioners attending Sunday service. How could they stop the accelerating decline of such an important ecclesiastical site? It is so gratifying to note that, in 1997 it was done. It took all of nine years but it stands today as a magnificent testament to ecumenical cooperation.
St Mary's is essentially three cathedrals in one. The first was built in the 1100s during the reign of the last High King of Ireland Turlough O'Connor. Its nave collapsed leaving only a splendid Hiberno Romanesque chancel arch, which is the centrepiece of the present structure. During the 14th century the cathedral was rebuilt by the de Burgos, then the dominant family in Connacht.
In the 1870s, the third was built in neoGothic style to the west of the arch to cater for an expanding Protestant population in the garrison town. The second cathedral became the diocesan synod hall library and registry.
The significance of St Mary's has been described perfectly by Archbishop Robert Eames as an historic site which was "bequeathed to the Church of Ireland, but which belonged to all". One who has embraced that view wholeheartedly is the cathedral's sexton, Mr Jarlath Canney, a Catholic.
His first encounter with St Mary's was to take a hatchet to the ivy on its walls alter he had been alerted to how it can devastate old buildings. He believes fervently that its significance goes further and reflects a unique European flavour". Its imposing choir stalls are made from French caenstone, its altar rails are Italian and its window of the transfiguration was made by Meyer of Munich.
Somewhat innocently, it was estimated that it would cost about £100,000 to put St Mary's right and adequately protect its many treasures. By 1995, through FAST and EU Structural Funds, the equivalent of £1 million had been spent.
More recently, a meticulous account of the restoration by the site foreman, Mr Jarlath McHugh, together with an excellent architectural and archaeological guide to those buried in the cathedral grounds, has been published by the Friends of St Mary's. It is edited by archaeologists, Mr Jim Higgins and Ms Aisling Parsons.
When it was published, the UCG historian, Prof Gearoid O Tuathaigh, said questions were occasionally asked about the merits of certain training schemes. The record should show that Irish culture had been enlarged and enriched through the work of FAS.
Mr Tony Barrett, FAS regional director, confessed that the circumstances of the film, The Agony and the Ecstasy, played on his mind during the restoration. He too had asked "when will you be ready?" just as Pope Julius II (played by Rex Harrison) had repeatedly demanded of Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) as he was attempting to finish his painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
The wait in Tuam did not diminish the satisfaction, if not the ecstasy. Its achievement is due to the courage of a small number of people, the leadership of previous deans - the Rev W.J. Grant and the Rev Anthony Previte - and the great encouragement of FAS and other public bodies, according to Bishop John Neill.
Bishop Neill, who is about to leave the diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry for Cashel and Ossory, departs knowing that a building to which he has a great attachment has been brought back to glory. "The way it combines many different phases of Irish church architecture is quite fascinating. It creates a great sense of splendour in spite of its modest size."
The book on St Mary's also records the names of the 158 craftsmen, apprentices, skilled labourers and trainees who worked on the restoration.
. St Mary's Cathedral - An Architectural, Archaeological and Historical Guide (£10 paperback) is available from: Mr Jarlath Canney, c/o St Mary's Cathedral, Tuam, Co Galway (Tel: 093 24141).
. The Irish Times noted on August 28th, 1863, that "the interesting ceremony of laying the memorial stone to celebrate the commencement of the rebuilding of St Mary's Cathedral, Tuam, was performed by the Lord Bishop of the diocese in the presence of an assemblage which, both in point of number and respectability, has rarely been equalled on similar occasions in the west of Ireland".
That delightful quote is from Glimpses of Tram Since the Famine published last month by the Old Tuam Society. It is edited by Dr John A Claffey, who has written an intriguing account of the 19th century restoration, overseen by the noted antiquarian, Dr George Petrie.
Many of those whose significance go beyond the local in Tuam's history are featured in a wonderful volume, notably John Birmingham, landlord and astronomer; Dick Dowling, emigrant and American Civil War hero; Eileen Costello, senator and judge of Sinn Fein's arbitration courts in 1921-22, and Bobby Burke, christian socialist and benefactor. Glimpses of Tuam Since the Famine, edited by J.A. Claffey (£10 hardback), is distributed through Galway bookshops.
