Longford exhibition on St Mel’s Cathedral restoration project

It's almost ten years since St Mel's Cathedral reopened its doors following the devastating fire of 2009.

To mark the occasion Tiernan Dolan with Creative Ireland, Longford have teamed up with the cathedral to display 22 photographs of what was the biggest restoration project of its kind in western Europe.

Fr Tom Healy asked local amateur photographer Tiernan Dolan to record everything from the morning of the fire until its reopening in 2014.

On the photographic record, Tiernan said: "Only for Fr Tom Healy's vision this invaluable record would not have existed. Thousands of the photos taken from 2009 -2014 have been donated to the Heritage archives within Longford County Council and now with the support of Creative Ireland, Longford twenty-two prints have been chosen for this exhibition.

“For me it was an amazing privilege to have photographed the progress and every single person on site couldn't have been more helpful or supportive. It was truly a magnificent privilege for me. "

A launch of the exhibition will take place on Friday, September 20 at 4pm and the display will be on view in the St Mel’s Cathedral porch and will be handed over to the cathedral for display into the years ahead.