Millenniums have an awful habit of bringing things to a head. At least that's what Cashel councillor Tom Wood is hoping. His ambition since boyhood has been to see a crown placed on the head of the Cathedral on the Rock, and that the crown be of slate.
Re-roofing the cathedral would take months if not years to complete, could cost anything from £6 million to £20 million - and could be really appreciated only from inside the building. With a new century beckoning, however, Tom Wood believes the project is all but irresistible as a feat which would mark the transition from one millennium to another - and last long into the 2000s.
Like a scene from an eerie Hitchcock movie, the five medieval buildings that straddle the ancient rock demand one's fullest attention on approaching Cashel. Walking around the cathedral, Cormac's Chapel, the Round Tower, the Hall of the Vicar's Choral and the archbishop's residence, one has to concede that this is truly an awesome spot on the panorama of the Golden Vale plains. No wonder that St Patrick's Rock was chosen by the High Kings of Munster as their base in the fourth century, nor that it was received gladly by the church in 1101 as the seat of the new diocese of Cashel. The cathedral was built in the 1200s.
"It will happen eventually," says Cllr Wood of the re-roofing project. "I can feel it. It is practical, feasible, and I can see no reason why we, this generation, should not be the one to get it moving."
Ultimately, it's up to the Heritage Service, Duchas, which is part of the Department of Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands.
A spokesman for Duchas told The Irish Times that there were no plans to re-roof the entire cathedral, but that there were plans to roof the south transept in order to have a space where the carvings could be protected. The smaller Cormac's Chapel has been re-roofed, and the frescos inside preserved.
Anna Dolan, an architect with the Office of Public Works monuments section, says they would be against carrying out a restoration. "There is a question about the sanctity of the ruins." Others, including Anna Mulvey, project manager of Cashel Heritage, believe the money required would be better spent on other means of attracting visitors to the town.
"We would support it in theory. It's not an impossible project. But it is pitched against others. The figures suggest it could cost up to £20 million to carry out, and some question whether the walls could actually support it. It would be fantastic, but could you justify it?"
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Tom Wood has devoted the greater part of his life to the Rock. He worked as a guide there as a young man, and although he went to London to study nursing, he returned to the Rock before he completed his training.
"I always had a gra for it and when a vacancy came up as a tour guide I came back to work. The issue of re-roofing came up especially in the mid-1980s. I had a lot of correspondence with the Taoiseach at the time, Garret FitzGerald, and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Joe Bermingham. "The replies I got never said it was an impossibility. They just said there was a problem with money, and the legal problem of whether it could be used as a church."
An 1869 Act de-sanctified the cathedral. Wood, however, says the cathedral need not necessarily be used for church purposes, and even if it was felt necessary, the cathedral could have its sanctity restored through new legislation. In the summer of 1996 a concert with the tenor Finbar Wright was held in the cathedral. A tarpaulin was drawn across the open roof and about 1,000 people attended. From that day in particular, says Tom Wood, everyone felt that a roofed cathedral would be a splendid addition to the town - and indeed to the country.
Open to the elements, he points out, the carvings and architectural features inside are being slowly damaged. Clearly a covering of oak and slate would afford both protection and the possibility of a magnificent venue for functions.
The Labour TD, Michael Ferris, also a Cashel man, agrees that as a millennium project "it would be there forever". To him the Rock is a special place: he was married there. "During Ireland's presidency of the EU I brought all the members of the European Affairs Committee to Cashel and every last one of them was amazed at the splendour and majesty of the site. Wouldn't it be magnificent to put the protection of a roof over it?"
A joint meeting of North and South Tipperary County Councils thought so. They recently voted unanimously in favour of re-roofing.
Tom Wood feels that its medieval and religious history is no reason to shy away from applying 20th-century restoration expertise to the cathedral. He points to the fact that there have been building additions and restorative work done on the buildings down through the centuries.
"Just because we've reached the late 20th century shouldn't mean we are suddenly hands off and won't touch it. Putting a roof over the cathedral could only do good."
Until an accurate costing is done no one could say how prohibitive - or not - the expense would be, he adds. "I have this dream of driving into Cashel at night and seeing the lights inside the cathedral windows flickering in the distance.
"That would be something. It will happen. I just like to hope that I will be here to see it."
