St. Macartan's Cathedral, Clogher: Knitted model of Cathedral unveiled

It took the group of knitters – comprising parishioners of four churches in the Clogher Valley area: St. Macartan's Cathedral, Clogher; St. Mark's, Augher; St. Mark's, Newtownsaville and St. Mary's, Erragle Port Clare – a total of 12 months and 101 balls of yarn to create the highly-detailed, six foot-high model.

The congregation attending the Praise and Worship Service in Clogher Cathedral on Sunday night queue up to see the model unveiled during the service. Photos above: Brian Donaldson.

Delighted with the outcome, which is now proudly displayed in St. Macartan's Cathedral, Joyce Stafford, a representative of the Knit, Stitch and Natter group, said: "It's fantastic! Photographs don't do it justice."

She went on to tell The Impartial Reporter how the project came about.

Knit, Stitch and Natter knitted St. Macartan's Cathedral Clogher.

"It was just a notion," she laughed, adding: "Somebody just thought they'd knit a cathedral, and our wee group got balls of wool, and we all knitted squares [for it] and then various bits and pieces."

The group, which included Lynn Winslow, Bertha Keys, Hilary Crawford, Lorna Stewart, Trixie Thompson, Lynn McClaron, Sylvia McClung, Mary Bailey, Kathleen McKeown, Charlene Giles, June Beck, Lorna Stewart, Jean Bell, Margaret McLaughlin, Olive Williamson, Hilary Keys, Gladys Mills, Pat Scott and Mildred Crawford, started the project on June 21, 2021.

Some of the members of the Knit, Stitch and Natter group who helped to produce the model of St. Macartan’s Cathedral, Clogher, in a year-long project.

"It's taken a full year and a lot of hard work. We had to work out how many balls of wool we needed, and from that, each member of Knit, Stitch and Natter got a ball of wool, and knitted squares," said Joyce, explaining that it took a total of 31 100g balls of yarn and 70 50g balls of yarn to complete the cathedral.

The purchase of the yarn was made possible thanks to donations.

Knit, Stitch and Natter knitted St. Macartan's Cathedral Clogher.

"This past three or four months we started putting it together," she continued, noting that architect Jonathan Keys created a scale drawing of the cathedral for the model, which William Crawford and Ivan Domer used to build the frame of the cathedral out of MDF.

"First of all, we stitched many squares together and then we glued it on. As each piece went on, we actually had to stitch it on the model," added Joyce.

Knit, Stitch and Natter knitted St. Macartan's Cathedral Clogher.

Talking about the most challenging part of the project, Joyce said: "The very last cornerstones were difficult. Where the two roofs would meet, getting pieces to fit in, you were sort of sitting knitting and decreasing, and going to measure it to the model, then going back and knitting another bit, and measuring again.

"So I think that would have been the most difficult part."

Along with the sheer skill involved in creating the knitted model, the attention to detail is second to none, from the cornerstones to the stained glass windows.

Knit, Stitch and Natter knitted St. Macartan's Cathedral Clogher.

"My nieces, Wendy Botha and Michelle Gilmore, they took photographs of the stained glass windows of the cathedral. They got the dimensions right for the model, and they printed them on to acetate and then put them on to perspex," said Joyce, explaining how the windows were made.

Small lights were then added to the centre of the model, creating a warm glow through the windows when placed in the dark.

Calling the project a "labour of love", Joyce recalled how one member of the group even stood on steps to knit the top of the cathedral.

"Every time we came away from it, we thought, 'We haven't done that much', but when we came back in to do more, we just thought, 'wow'," she told this newspaper.