Early history Fachtna of Rosscarbery came to the area in the late sixth century and founded a monastic site. It was known contemporaneously as , or "wood of the pilgrims". This had been the principal monastery of West Cork;
Brendan the Navigator taught there, and it was a school for international students in its time. The ruins of a church erected by St Faughnan [
sic] still exist on the southern slope of the land on which Rosscarbery is built. A church or cathedral has occupied the site since at least the tenth century, and after Bishop
John Edmund de Courcy resigned in 1517,
Pope Leo X ordered an inquiry into the state of the diocese, and it was noted that by then a cathedral stood on the site. It was known at that time as , or "Feachtna's big temple".
16th century After the reformation, no Bishop of Ross was appointed by the crown until 1582, when
William Lyon was enthroned. He was the last bishop to serve before the
Diocese of Ross was merged with the
Diocese of Cork. Bishop Lyon was unsatisfied with the cathedral, and undertook the erection of what he deemed to be a more suitable building. The building was either substantially renovated or entirely rebuilt, either between 1582 and 1589,
17th century During the
Catholic Rebellion of 1641, the church suffered extensive damage, leaving it "wrecked". The
nave and tower were destroyed, and the chancel and two chapels were used as a slaughterhouse. The former house of Bishop Lyon (who had died in 1617) was burnt down, and his
deaf and
dumb daughter perished in the fire. In the 1660s the nave was rebuilt. In 1696 it was ordered that a tower be built. Fallow describes the cathedral as having been "almost entirely rebuilt in the seventeenth century".
18th century - present The spire of the original building was removed in either 1785, 1793, or 1795, with the current spire being added in 1806 at a cost of
IR£964. The walls of the church were freestone, but what remained of the old walls were plastered and dashed in 1880. Storms have blown the top of the spire over on two occasions, once in the winter of 1886, and then again in February 1923. Between 2002 and 2005, major restorations were carried out on the cathedral, including rebuilding the organ and restoring the bells. In 2012, an additional bell was added to the tower. == Architecture ==