The first circumstance was that the building of a Catholic cathedral was delayed for various reasons until close to the turn of the last century. The Irish Literary Renaissance was by then well advanced. When the building was completed in 1902, the Arts and Crafts movement was having effect.The second circumstance was that of Edward Martyn’s birth at the home of his maternal grandfather, James Smyth, in the parish of Loughrea. Martyn was an ascetic man and devoted his time and fortune to the development of every phase of the Irish revival, the Gaelic League, Sinn Féin, the Irish Literary Theatre, Irish music, church music and church art. With innate business acumen, he insured by personal donation and the financial support of the Smyth family that the new cathedral would reflect his views. The bishop, Dr John Healy, who was sensitive to the prevailing trend, accepted the challenge and assigned the project to the supervision of a young curate in the parish, Fr Jeremiah O’Donovan, who was himself actively engaged in propaganda for Revival. John Hughes was the foremost sculptor in the country at the time, and Bishop, Clonfert Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Clonfert, County Galway in Ireland. Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Clonfert and then one of three cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Limerick and Killaloe, it is now one of five cathedrals in the Diocese of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe., St Brendan’s Cathedral stands at the western extremity of the Diocese of Clonfert on the main highway from Dublin to Galway. The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid on 10 October 1897, and the fabric was completed in 1902..