St. Macartin's Cathedral

St Macartin’s Cathedral stands on rising ground above Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. It overlooks the town from its elevated site in the Church of Ireland’s Armagh province. The present building was finished in 1842 as St Anne’s Parish Church and later became the diocese’s second cathedral in 1923. Its 45-metre tower and spire rise above the rooftops, and inside a ten-bell peal can be rung or played as tunes. A three-manual organ with thirty-three speaking stops fills the nave with sound, supported by a full pedal board and enclosed swell and choir divisions. The cathedral’s history begins with a church built around 1627 by Sir William Cole when Enniskillen was first laid out. By 1832 the old building had become unsafe and was replaced. The chancel was enlarged in 1889, and in 1923 the church became St Macartin’s Cathedral. In 2012 Queen Elizabeth II attended a Diamond Jubilee service led by Kenneth Hall, Dean of Clogher, with Alan Harper, Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, giving the address. Peter Robinson, then First Minister, read the lesson as leaders from Methodist, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches took part. Visitors enter a nave framed by the organ’s pipes and the stalls of the dean and chapter from Clogher. The tower’s bells and the organ’s thirty-three stops can be heard during services and recitals. The cathedral’s long history is marked by the 400th anniversary service in 2023, attended by the Bishop of Clogher, Archbishop John McDowell and the Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh. From the steps the town spreads below, and inside the chancel’s enlarged space the light falls on the cathedral’s quiet dignity.