Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, stands on the site of a Viking assembly place and later the palace of the O’Brien kings, gifted to the Church by King Donal Mór O’Brien in 1168. Over the centuries, it was enriched with merchant-built chantry chapels – the largest surviving range in Ireland – as well as the country’s biggest medieval altar stone and only surviving choir stalls.

Notable features include the 17th-century Thomond Monument, the tomb of Donal Mór O’Brien and the 19th-century Bishop’s Throne designed by the Pain brothers. The fine stained glass and the reredos behind the high altar are reminders of how the Church has for centuries commissioned great works of beauty. Saint Mary’s Cathedral is an extraordinarily complex building, representing developments from the mid-12th century to the later 20th century – a treasure of Irish religious art.

It stands now as a place of prayer and pilgrimage, and a symbol of faith, hope and love to the city of Limerick.