St Macartan's Cathedral, Monaghan — Three-Phase Stone Restoration (Featured on Nationwide)

St Macartan's Cathedral in Monaghan is one of the great Gothic Revival churches of Ireland, designed by J.J. McCarthy and William Hague and dating from 1891. The cathedral's ambitious exterior is a tour de force of Victorian ecclesiastical architecture: three large rose windows, a soaring spire, and a remarkable collection of Italian statuary — saints and bishops carved in Carrara marble and imported from Italy — that distinguish the building as a work of national and international significance.

Clarke Restoration were appointed as specialist restoration contractor for a multi-phase programme of stone conservation and repair. Phase One encompassed extensive stone replacement, detailed repair work around the main rose window, stone carving, extensive stone cleaning using specialist low-impact systems, internal cleaning using the TORC system, and careful removal of the Carrara marble statuary to enable detailed conservation cleaning and repairs before reinstatement. Complete lime repointing to all areas was also undertaken.

Phase Three — the most recent phase — has focused on the main Rose Window and the detailed windows in the east section of the cathedral, with Clarke working closely with the Conservation Architect on a careful condition study before works commenced. The project was featured on an episode of the Irish national television programme Nationwide — recognition of the cultural significance of the work and the quality of its execution.