Each diocese was given a name, nearly always from an ancient site. The nomination of Clogher, rather than Clones or Devenish, seems to stem from the connection with St Patrick and the concern of the reformers to promote episcopal rather than monastic control. A ninth century life of St Patrick describes him establishing his thréanfhear (strong man) Macartan at Clogher. St Macartan duly became the patron of the new diocese, and the bishop and his cathedral chapter were expected to live at the new episcopal centre.

The savage wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought the total destruction of the patrimony of the Catholic Church in Ireland. In the diocese of Clogher only the Lough Derg pilgrimage maintained unbroken continuity throughout the centuries of persecution. Bishop MacNally, the founder of the Cathedral, described the situation in 1853, in the robust language of the day:

The great and long-continued persecution of the Catholics in this country weighed incomparably more heavily on the Catholics of Ulster than upon those of the other provinces. In one persecution after another the churches, the religious institutes, the clergy and the whole people were totally stripped of all their possessions and such as escaped ruin were chased from the towns into mountainous districts, and as far as it was possible they were left incapable of acquiring property of any kind. All the temporal goods of the diocese were handed over in 1570 by Queen Elizabeth of England to the unfortunate Miler Magrath, who, after being promoted by St Pius V to the bishopric of Down, apostasized publicly from the faith. Thus gradually the cathedral, the churches and all the great church revenues of this episcopal see were passed into the hands of the heretics where they remain to this day. Since the time of these misfortunes we have no cathedral church, nor even cathedral services, properly speaking.

In this diocese we are gradually recovering from the deplorable state of things that we have mentioned. There are still people alive who remember that in their time there was scarcely a Catholic church or chapel in the entire diocese so that in all the seasons of the year our poor people had to gather in the open air under the heavens to hear Mass, with a covering only for the altar and for the priests during the celebration of the Divine Mysteries. After I was ordained priest, I myself had to celebrate Mass in this way in one of the districts of this very parish in which I now reside.

The bishop goes on to say that he was at that time (1853) living in the parish of Monaghan and that the parish church was joined to his residence. This was the old church in the cemetery at Latlurcan, which is still standing although long since out of use.

The decision to build the Cathedral came five years later. On 3 January 1858, at a meeting of the Catholics of Monaghan, with Bishop MacNally presiding, it was formally resolved that a new church at Monaghan was urgently necessary. An eight-acre site was purchased by the bishop from Humphrey Jones of Clontibret for £800, and an architect, James Joseph McCarthy of Dublin, was employed to draw a design. On 21 June 1861 the foundation stone was solemnly laid in the presence of most of the bishops of Ireland. By April 1862 the work was under way. According to a contemporary account:

…..it was not unusual to see 400 or 500 horses and carts, filled with lime, stone and sand, arrive at the building together; the horses and carts and men having been supplied gratuitously by the people of the various parishes surrounding.

The stone for the building came from a large quarry of grey and cream coloured limestone near what is now Old Cross Square.

When Bishop MacNally died in 1864 the walls were already 32 feet above the levels of the foundations. In 1865 the work resumed under his successor Bishop James Donnelly, and continued under his personal and unremitting direction until completion in 1892. On 21 August of that year the Cathedral was solemnly dedicated, again in the presence of the bishops of Ireland. A week later, on 28 August, there was a special celebration for the people
of the parish.

When the architect McCarthy died in 1882, his successor was the Cavan man, William Hague. Hague was responsible for the design of the spire and the gate lodge.

The Gothic revival movement coincided with Catholic Emancipation in Ireland and Britain, and the consequent need to find symbols to express public worship which had been driven underground for over two centuries. This accounts for the outstanding feature of Monaghan Cathedral, which both in its imposing walls and soaring spire, is the emphasis on height.

The plan of the building is in the form of Latin cross. The nave (or body) of the church, running west to east, constitutes the shaft of the cross. Unfortunately for the overall proportions of the building, only five of the seven planned bays of the nave were built. The arms to the north and south, the transepts, have entrances on either side from the chapter house and the tower. At the crossing of nave and transepts we have the beginning of the chancel, which reaches eastwards into the apse. On either side of the nave are the side aisles and opening from the eastern sides of the transepts are four side chapels, two on each side. The Lady chapel, formerly the baptistery, projects off the north aisle.

The variety of Gothic architecture adopted by McCarthy here is known as Decorated, or fourteenth-century French. The main features of this style are obvious from the outside; the large rose and lancet windows adorned with elaborate tracery, the pointed arches and doors, the numerous turrets and pinnacles, and the thick, stepped buttresses separating the bays. The buttresses of the apse and Lady chapel are especially noteworthy. The polygonal form of the apse or ‘chevet’ is a distinctively French feature: in medieval English architecture a square, eastern termination was always preferred. Another characteristic of French Gothic, as opposed to English, was its far greater emphasis on height.

The nave which is the main seating area for the congregation, is defined by two rows of plain circular columns set on octagonal bases and terminating in capitals from which spring particularly handsome moulded arches. Over these, at a high level, are the clerestory windows which light up the wooden roof. This hammerbeam roof, the pointed arches, the foliated carving of the capitals and the carved heads on the corbelstones supporting the roof are all typical features of the Gothic style.

The transepts, the other seating area, join the nave by means of a single arch on either side. These arches are much higher and wider than those in the nave and rest on larger multiple columns. Four of these columns at the crossing are in almost square formation and mark out the centre of the building, where the platform for the altar rises five steps above the level of the main floor.

The chancel behind the altar is defined by the smaller columns and arches of the side chapels and by the raised floor, which joins the place of the altar with that of the bishop’s chair or ‘cathedra’, in the apse. The simple ribbing of the roof in this area distinguishes it from the hammerbeam treatment in the nave.

The side aisles and four side chapels are considerably lower than the nave, transepts and chancel, an indication of their secondary role in the overall structure.

The Lady chapel projects from the north aisle, with the same kind of arch as those in the nave. The semi-octagonal apsidal form echoes, less laborately, that of the great eastern apse.

The organ gallery over the west door is supported by eight columns in polished red Aberdeen granite. Like the wooden porches inside the west doors, the gallery was added by Hague in the 1880′s and was not part of McCarthy’s original plan.

To encourage maximum participation by the entire congregation in the celebration of the Eucharist, the altar is given pride of place in the crossing, just at the point where, because of the deliberate absence of stained glass in the rose windows of the transepts and in certain other high-level windows, the natural light of day is brighest and most concentrated. The altar is carved from a single piece of granite from south County Dublin. As an integral piece of natural stone it suggests the primeval offering of sacrifice. Its carefully-wrought carving humanises that concept, so that this great rock is transformed into a table, inviting the worshipper to partake of the sacred meal in communion with the Lord.

On two curved platforms to each side of the altar and a little behind it stand the ambo to the north and a cantor’s lectern to the south. The design and material of the ambo follow those of the altar, but its basic form is that of a reading-desk rather than a table. The wooden-topped lectern is of more modest proportions and dispenses with the curved contours characteristic of the major elements.

The third of these liturgical elements is the bishop’s chair (whose outline, as seen from the front, is for the most part an exact inversion of the ambo).
This stands in a central presiding position, raised ten steps above floor level, in the vertex of the apse. In spite of its great distance from the altar, the sense of a unified grouping is undiminished. A wooden back is inset into the chair, and into this in turn a gilt-bronze roundel or medallion bearing the inscription: HAEC EST SEDES EPISCOPALIS CLOGHERENSIS (‘This is the seat of the Bishop of Clogher’).

The altar, ambo and bishop’s chair as well as the baptismal font, were carved by the designer Michael Biggs.

The chair is flanked on either side by a semi-circlular bench for concelebrants, to denote the unity of the priesthood with the bishop. This arrangement of chair and bench was traditional in early Roman stational churches.

There are two other smaller fixed seats nearer the altar, designed in the same mode as the lectern; one as an alternative seat for a priest who may be presiding; the other a ceremonial place of honour for a guest.

The steps, in solid Travertine marble, are arranged to highlight each of the three liturgical elements in turn – the altar, ambo and chair – and to clarify the relationship which exists between them as a whole.

The sanctuary crucifix is by Richard Enda King. The cross is of Irish oak, and the upright, a single piece, rises 15 feet from the floor. The figure of Christ, calm and compassionate, is cast in bronze. The wood, in contrast, is given a softened textural finish to heighten its organic nature as the living cross of Jesus Christ in the world today. The crucifix is the gift of John Finley of Boca Raton, Florida.

The Pietà (or Mother and Son) is by Nell Murphy and the lettering is by Michael Biggs.

The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament

This ‘tent’ is encircled by a boldly modelled motif in gold-plated cast bronze which represents the continuous river of life, and can also be read as the letters of the words SOLAS DÉ, the light of God.

Fixed to the supporting pillar for the ciboria to rest on is a bracket of the same metal. This is pierced with a pattern of small crosses which is normally invisible because the bracket is seen edgeways, but in certain lights it is projected in shadow form on to the face of the stone, a happy inspiration on the part of Richard Enda King, who designed and made the tabernacle.

The Baptistery

The font stands in a circle of dark-green slate set into the marble floor, suggesting, by its form and colour, a surrounding pool.

The Chapel of Reconciliation

Dúirt Íosa leo:
Mise atá ann. Ná bíodh eagla
oraibh.
Tháinig sé isteach sa bhád chucu
agus thit an ghaoth.

(Jesus said to them:
It is I. Do not be afraid.
Then he got into the boat with
them,
and the wind dropped.)

The Chapel of the Holy Oils

The Baptism Tapestry

There are three themes in the Baptism Tapestry:

(a) A dove sending seven shafts of light into a pool of moving water, symbols of the Holy Spirit, his seven gifts and the life-giving character of Christian Baptism.

(b) A salmon leaping against a waterfall (on the left) expressing the struggle of the Christian life. This symbol is inspired by the falls of Assaroe where the Erne meets the Atlantic at the western extermity of the diocese of Clogher.

(c) A richly-coloured tree, rising from seeds and roots, symbol of the spiritual life of the Christian, evergrowing in grace, strength and beauty. The tree is suggestive of the literal meaning of Macartan ‘devotee of the rowan tree’.

The Macartan Tapestry

(a) Macartan (in orange cloak throughout) receiving the symbols of his episcopal office from St Patrick. The symbols are the bishop’s staff or crozier and the Domhnach Airgid.

(b) The ford across the river (lower right) denoting Macartan’s previous role as tréanfear Phadráig. As Patrick’s strong man he used to carry him over rivers, fords and bogs.

(c) Macartan leaving the ford behind him and setting out, staff in hand, to found his new church in Clogher.

(d) Macartan reading his Bible inside his church (centre) and surrounded by a miraculous haze of light. The light is the gift of personal faith which empowers the bishop to read and preach the Word of God with a new and totally different kind of vision.

(e) Macartan and his two guests (upper left) seated at table. The bread for the meal is obtained from a miraculous shower of corn over the table, while the gushing fountain (upper right) produces water that tastes like wine. The meal is the Eucharist, the celebration of God’s unending hospitality.

The Blessed Sacrament Tapestry

This is about the communion of prayer and contemplation which is the fruit of the Eucharist. It is expressed here by means of a large broken host resting on a cluster of vine leaves and branches.

The broken host emphasises the humanity of Jesus in the tabernacle and his suffering and death on our behalf are the source of our Christian hope. the host is inset in an unbroken circle, symbolising the divinity of Christ which remains unchanged by the brokeness of his humanity. The vine is a symbol of the unity which exists between Christ and his followers.