Work finished on ancient 18-foot wall around St Brigid's Cathedral in Kildare

Specialist repairs on part of the ancient 18-foot high wall surrounding St Brigid's Cathedral in Kildare Town have been completed.

A section of the imposing wall was carefully dis-assembled in order to reinforce its structure at Firecastle Lane off Market Square.

The work was carried out by building restoration specialists.

The contractor moved into the site last July and the work was completed in recent weeks.

A stabilising steel barrier had been erected outside the wall for several years to support it and safeguard passing pedestrians.

The Norman-style St Brigid's Cathedral dates back almost 800 years to 1223.

However the site is believed to have occupied an original pagan shrine to the goddess Brigid and the later early Christian foundation and church of St. Brigid.

The Cathedral was reduced to ruins in the 1600s but restored in the 19th and 20th Centuries