St. Eunan's Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Eunan and St. Columba, is located in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. Built between 1890 and 1900, it was commissioned by Cardinal O'Donnell, the then Bishop of Raphoe. The cathedral, designed by William Hague and T. F. McNamara in Victorian neo-Gothic style, features a 240-foot spire and is adorned with white sandstone from Mountcharles.
The interior is furnished in oak, with a marble pulpit depicting statues of the Four Masters and the Four Evangelists by Pearse Brothers of Dublin. Stained glass windows from the Mayer firm of Munich illustrate scenes from the life of Jesus.
The cathedral underwent renovation in 1985 to align with the liturgical requirements of the Second Vatican Council, preserving the original altar and incorporating it into the new design. The cathedral also houses 12 bells, each named after saints of Tír Conail, and a solid silver sanctuary lamp.
References:Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.