More on St Mels' Cathedral, burned on Christmas Day

St Mel's Cathedral, Longford, Ireland, Christmas morning

The blog of Saint Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association carries a report not only about the fire that destroyed St Mel's Cathedral on Christmas morning but about the history of the cathedral. It is also quite critical of changes in the interior of the church after Vatican II and includes some 'before' and 'after' photos to illustrate this.

The introduction to the blog states:

St. Conleth’s Catholic Heritage Association aims at safeguarding the rich liturgical heritage of the Catholic Church and promoting its use in the sacramental life of the Church in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. In effect, this means that we seek the full implementation of Summorum Pontificum throughout the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, wherever there is a genuine pastoral need.This blog will keep you informed of the activities of St. Conleth’s Catholic Heritage Association, and of progress made in implementing Summorum Pontificum, particularly throughout the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin.

Posts will be made on the first weekend of the month.

The Diocese of Leighlin (pronounced 'LOCKlin') was established in 1130 and united in 1678 with that of Kildare. St Conleth was appointed first bishop of Kildare around 490. Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin announced on 23 December that he was offering his resignation to Pope Benedict. This followed on the resignation of Bishop Donal Murray, accepted on 17 December. On the evening of 24 December Bishops Eamon Walsh and Raymond Field, auxiliaries of the Archdiocese of Dublin, announced that they were offering their resignations.

These were all in the aftermath of the Murphy Report on the abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin.