The Cathedral of St. Brendan, Loughrea, is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

church of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert The Diocese of Clonfert () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the western part of Ireland. It is in the Metropolitan Province of Tuam. Michael Duignan was appointed by the Holy See on 16 July 2019 and ordained bishop on 13 Oc ...

. The cathedral was designed in Neo-Gothic style and houses one of the most extensive collections of arts and crafts and

Celtic Revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gae ...

artefacts 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 An Túr Gloine (; Irish for "The Glass Tower") was a cooperative studio for stained glass and '' opus sectile'' artists from 1903 until 1944, based in Dublin, Ireland. History An Túr Gloine was conceived of in late 1901 and established Januar ...

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 John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

and Michael Shortall, and the architect

William Alphonsus Scott William Alphonsus Scott (1871–1921) was an Irish Roman Catholic ecclesiastical architectural historian, academic, and was the most significant architect active throughout late 19th and early 20 century Ireland. His offices were first located in ...

also contributed designs for metalwork and woodwork. 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. The origins of

and that of the cathedral's decorative scheme are inextricably connected. Among the studio's first orders were three apse windows, in 1903, for the new cathedral and virtually all of the studio's artists such as Michael Healy,

Alfred E. Child Alfred Ernest Child (1875–1939) was an English stained glass artist, a lecturer in the National College of Art and Design, Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and was associated with An Túr Gloine. Life and education Alfred Ernest Child was ...

Sarah Purser Sarah Henrietta Purser RHA (22 March 1848 – 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her portraiture. She was the first woman to become a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. She also founded and financially supported An T� ...

Beatrice Elvery Beatrice Moss Elvery, RHA (1881, Dublin – 1970, Rockall, Sandycove) was an Irish painter, stained-glass artist and sculptor. Early life Beatrice Moss Elvery was born in 1881, the second daughter of the Dublin businessman, William Elvery, ...

Ethel Rhind Ethel Rhind (1 December 1877 – 6 March 1952) was an Irish stained-glass and mosaic artist, who was associated with An Túr Gloine. Life and education Rhind was born on 1 December 1877 in Arrah, Bihar, India. Her father was Robert Hunter Rhind ...

Hubert McGoldrick Hubert Vincent McGoldrick (1897 — 22 November 1967) was a Dublin-born stained glass artist, one of a small number of Irish artists which included Michael Healy, Wilhelmina Geddes, Evie Hone, and Harry Clarke, who worked in this medium and ach ...

Catherine Amelia O'Brien Catherine Amelia "Kitty" O'Brien (19 June 1881 – 18 July 1963) was an Irish stained glass artist, and a member and director of An Túr Gloine. Early life and education Catherine Amelia O'Brien was born in Durra House, Spancill Hill, County Cl ...

and

Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editi ...

are represented. There are ten windows by Michael Healy, including the first one he both designed and executed, ''St Simeon'', and also one of his undisputed finest, ''The Last Judgement'' completed in 1940, a year before he died. In honour of the

Irish Catholic Martyrs Irish Catholic Martyrs () were 24 Irish men and women who have been beatified or canonized for both a life of heroic virtue and for dying for their Catholic faith between the reign of King Henry VIII and Catholic Emancipation in 1829. The more ...

, a copy of the weeping "Irish Madonna of Hungary", which was removed by Bishop Walter Lynch from the former diocesan cathedral to preserve it from desecration during the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...

, was presented in 2003 to the

by Bishop Pápai Janos of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Győr The Diocese of Győr (, , ) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Hungary. The diocese is suffragan to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest. The diocese is believed to have be ...

and now hangs inside St Brendan's Cathedral in Loughrea.Hungarian bishop to present 'Irish Madonna'
by Patsy McGarry, ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', Friday October 10, 2003.

References

External links

*
Tourist Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Republic of Ireland Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert Roman Catholic churches completed in 1902 Religion in County Galway 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland 20th-century churches in the Republic of Ireland