A neighbour raised the alarm at around 4.45am on Christmas morning and every fire unit in the county rushed to the scene where they desperately fought the rising flames which blazed as high as 60 feet.

Despite their efforts, by early morning it was clear that the Cathedral was succumbing to the flames and by mid afternoon the extent of the damage was obvious to the crowds who gathered at the historic building.

"We had all of the fire crews in County Longford working with us on the blaze," Declan Kilcline Chief Fire Officer with Co Longford Fire Brigade told the Leader.

"Some of them had worked from 11pm that night on the house fires in Ballinalee, Newtownforbes and Granard and then they worked on throughout Christmas Day on the St Mel's fire."

The initial efforts of the Co Longford Fire Services were hampered by the extreme weather conditions. When they first arrived at St Mel's Cathedral after 5am the water mains in Longford town were frozen and they had to work quickly to source water from the River Camlin.

"Even after we got the water sorted and we were pumping it onto the top of the fire some of it was freezing when it hit the building. The conditions underfoot for the fire crews were also treacherous," Mr Kilcline explained.

Gardai have been on the scene since the incident occurred but the technical investigation was delayed due to the fact that the building was declared unsafe over the weekend. Health and Safety officers were back on the scene on Monday to ascertain how to make the building safe but it is thought that it will be several more days before Garda investigators can enter the Cathedral.

Meanwhile, the people of Longford were coming to terms with the loss of one of the county's most historic and symbolic buildings.

Bishop Colm O'Reilly, who has served in this Diocese and in St Mel's for over forty years, was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the inferno on Christmas morning.

"We were initially hopeful that the fire could be contained to the rear of the church," Bishop Colm told the Leader.

"Within an hour we realised that this wasn't so as the fire had taken too much of a hold on the Cathedral. It was like a nightmare – the streams of water from the fire engines just looked so insignificant against the mighty flames and it really was all over by 7am."

After suffering the heartbreak of losing the headquarters of his Diocese, the Bishop has taken solace in the support of his community.
"Local people have united with the church like a big family following this appalling tragedy," he said.

He added that he was now solely focused on restoring the Cathedral back to its former glory.

The Bishop also told the Leader on Monday that he was relieved to hear that the graves in the Crypt beneath the Cathedral had not been damaged by the fire.

"I was very worried about the graves of the Bishops and I feel it's very good news that the Crypt is intact."

Meetings have already taken place about plans for alternative arrangements for Masses and religious ceremonies following the fire and early indications are that the Church at St Mel's College will be part of these arrangements.

Although it is too early to speculate about the restoration plans for the Cathedral, it is believed the reconstruction of the building could take a number of years. It is also believed that the cost of refurbishing the Cathedral could be as much as €10 million.

The fire also claimed a number of priceless important historical artefacts which were on display in the Diocesan Museum, based at the Cathedral.

"There were vestments and chalices which dated back to the 1600s; book shrines which were hand crafted by monks as well as the Bell of Fenagh Abbey and St Mel's Crozier which was 1,000 years old," Fr Tom Murray explained to the Leader on Monday.

People in Longford were this week coming to terms with the loss of the building, which had huge significance to the local community. Longford people from all over the world have been offering assistance and messages of support in the aftermath of the fire as local politicians led the calls for the community to rally together.