The 100th anniversary of the consecration of one of the country's most significant ecclesiastical buildings - St Colman's Cathedral in Cobh in County Cork - is to be mark this weekend.
The Pugin-designed neo-gothic cathedral took 47 years to build from the laying of the foundation stone in 1868 to its completion in 1915 at a cost of €235,000.
A special Diocesan mass will be celebrated by the Bishop of Cloyne William Crean at 3pm tomorrow and will feature music and hymns specially composed by Irish composer Bernard Sexton.
Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo will be among those attending the ceremony as well as clergy and parishioners from the 46 parishes of the Diocese of Cloyne in County Cork.
St. Colman's has the largest carillon of bells in Ireland and Britain with a total of 49 bells.
Over the past three years an extensive programme of restoration and renovation works were carried out in anticipation of the celebration.
These included the restoration of the cathedral's Telford Pipe Organ by Fratelli Ruffatti in Padua, in Italy, as well as extensive cleaning of the cathedral's interior stonework and stain glass windows.
