| Ferns Cathedral | |
| The Cathedral Church of St. Edan, Ferns | |
|---|---|
| Location | Ferns, County Wexford |
| Country | Ireland |
| Denomination | Church of Ireland |
| Website | Ferns Cathedral |
| History | |
| Dedication | St. Edan (Aedan of Ferns) |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Cashel and Ossory |
| Province | Province of Dublin |
| Clergy | |
| Dean | The Very Rev'd. Dr Paul Mooney (dean-elect) |
| Precentor | Canon R J Harmsworth |
| Canon Chancellor | Canon R J Gray |
| Archdeacon | The Venerable C W Long |
| Chaplain(s) | The Rev'd M Sykes |
| Laity | |
| Organist(s) | S Milne |
The Cathedral Church of St Edan is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Ferns, County Wexford in Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin.
Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Ferns, it is now one of six cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory.
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The original medieval cathedral was built by Bishop St. John in the 1230s. Following the Irish Reformation, a new body was established by decree of the Irish Parliament to became the State Church in the Kingdom of Ireland. The Church of Ireland, as it was named, assumed possession of most Church property (and so retained a great repository of religious architecture and other items, though some were later destroyed). The substantial majority of the population remained faithful to the Latin liturgy of Roman Catholicism, despite the political and economic advantages of membership in the state church. Since Ferns Cathedral was taken over in this way, Roman Catholic adherents were consequently obliged to worship elsewhere.
By 2011, some Anglicans were able to acknowledge that
"The forced alienation of sacred places from one community to another leaves lasting scars"[1]
The building was burnt down in Elizabethan times and only a small portion of the ruins remain. Although Queen Elizabeth I of England ordered it rebuilt, only a section of the quire was restored. This was subsequently rebuilt again in the 1800s.[2]
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (of the first creation), Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland (1130 – 20 April 1176), also commonly known as Strongbow (French: Arc-Fort), is interred at Ferns Cathedral.
The cathedral was vandalised in early 2009 by youths. Many panes of glass were broken in the cathedral and the pane of glass protecting the magnificent east window was cracked. Headstones in the adjacent St Peter's Cemetery were knocked over.[3]
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