An Athlone stonemason has created a colossal set of stone rosary beads, which weigh half a tonne and are believed to be the largest of their sort in the world. Over the past year, Mr Micheal Cregg from Clonfad, Oldtown, west of Athlone, has worked for about 500 hours to craft the set of stone rosary beads, which measure 43 feet from end to end.
Mr Cregg was told by the Guinness Book of Records his sculpture was the largest stone set of beads yet created. Other enormous rosary beads have been crafted in wood, he says. "I thought of the idea of the beads about 1-1/2 years ago. I wanted to do something to mark the millennium." He believes the beads would perfectly symbolise the 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth, as well as encompassing the theme of Christianity in the new millennium.
Mr Cregg, who has been a stonemason for 18 years and runs Cregg Brothers Ltd in Oldtown with his brother Cathal, says he first had to master the practical matter of making the beads from stone, as well as a means of holding them together, a process involving a great deal of design and planning.
The beads consist of six large stones, 53 smaller ones, a centrepiece and a cross. The smaller beads are made of limestone, while the larger beads, cross and centrepiece are crafted from Italian marble. They are held together with rust-proof stainless steel. Mr Cregg, with help from friends, worked at night and weekends, assembling the sculpture in pieces.
The beads are currently in his workshop in Oldtown. As for a permanent home for his sculpture, Mr Cregg says he is in consultation with the administrators of Knock shrine, with a view to housing the sculpture in a suitable place at the pilgrimage site. "I hope it is going to Knock. I hope it will have a permanent place there," he says.
Mr Pat Lavelle, assistant manager of Knock shrine, says the possibility of housing the sculpture at the shrine was being looked at - not an easy task, considering its size.
"We are looking for a place to put them. We need a wall 20 ft by 12 ft to mount them. We also need an appropriate place, ideally inside, to prevent against weathering." Each one of the rosary beads' six larger stones bears an inscription of one of the religious apparition sites in Europe during the last 150 years, including Fatima, Knock and Lourdes.
Mr Cregg is well known for community work in his parish. A member of a local prayer group, he was involved in twinning Ballinasloe, Co Galway, with a Lodwar village in north Kenya. The project "has a voluntary committee. It has no administration costs. Its main purpose is to make sure every pound donated goes to Lodwar," he said.