ST PATRICKS ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH.

Client: Rooney McConville Architects

Date: 2003

St. Patrick’s (RC) Cathedral is one of the finest ecclesiastical buildings in Ulster, listed at Grade A.  From original Gothic Revival designs by Thomas Duff c.1840, the Cathedral has developed over almost two centuries, with work by eminent Victorian architects JJ McCarthy, William Hague and George Ashlin. It is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland.

As part of a major refurbishment and liturgical reordering of the Cathedral in 2003, Opus Mosaic was commissioned by Rooney McConville Architects to design and install fine-detail mosaic flooring around the Lectern and the Ambo in the reordered Sanctuary.

The brief required a sense of connection and continuity with the origins of the Church, while emphasizing renewal.  Representations of the Four Evangelists were placed around the foot of the Ambo, while Christ Enthroned was placed at the Lectern. The designs were inspired by the Book of Kells, one of Ireland’s pre-eminent and best known Early Christian illuminated manuscripts.

Lectern Centerpiece "Christ Enthroned" from the Book of Kells