Fire forces cathedral to close for eight weeks

DAMAGE caused by a fire in one of the country’s best-known cathedrals is more serious than was originally thought and the building is to remain closed for eight weeks.

Initially, it was thought that the clean-up and repair work at St Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, would take just a few days, but the building will be closed until April 8, the church authorities confirmed yesterday.

A lit candle is believed to have been the cause of the fire which destroyed an old chalk altar dating back to the dedication of the cathedral in 1855.