A £200,000 restoration project at St Flannan's Cathedral, Kill aloe, involving the re pair of a Romanesque doorway and the reconstruction of a 12th century high cross, has been completed.
The Kilfenora Cross, embedded in the walls of the Gothic cathedral in the 1930s, is once again free-standing. The imposing 12-ft monument is now in the nave of the building.
"It was in about six bits when it was stuck on the wall. Duchas put bars in it and made it as it originally was," the cathedral dean, the Rev Nicholas Cummins, said.
Also in the nave is an 11th century baptismal font and a 1,000-year-old Ogham stone, believed to be a tombstone for a Viking Christian. "It think it is unique in Europe because it has a script in ancient Irish and ancient Scandinavian. We get all sorts of people coming to look at it," he said.
"We got rid of the Victorian pointing and tried to show the original stones as they were."
The restoration committee raised £60,000 from wellwishers all over the country and a grant of £136,890 was received from the European Regional Development Fund.
On February 15th, an ecumenical service of thanksgiving for the work completed so far will be held, with choral evensong and featuring the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
Now a new appeal to repair the organ, originally bought for £400, has begun. The option of buying an electronic organ has been rejected.
A minimum of £45,000 is required to make the 100-yearold instrument "liturgically feasible". "To bring it up to the standard where you could have concerts, you would have to spend £73,000," the Rev Cummins added.
Concerts are held in the cathedral every July during the Killaloe Aerfi festival.