ARMAGH, Co. Armagh – Cathedral of St Patrick (Church of Ireland). 

Reredos 1913; Restoration (date not known)

From the cathedral guide book (undated) page 9:

Reredos erected between eastern bays of the Presbytery.  It was designed by Mr. Fellowes Prynne and is of Corsham stone.  The panel of opus sectile work was executed by Percy Bacon Bros., London, and the  screen by H. H. Martyn and Sons, Cheltenham.

And from page 14:

The central panel represents the Last Supper and the figures on either side represent, in the lower niches, the four Evangelists, and in the upper, four Archangels.

The Cathedrals of the Church of Ireland by J. Godfrey F. Day, D.D. and Henry E. Patton, D.D.,(S.P.C.K. London, 1932 pp 26 & 27) describes this cathedral in some detail, including “the improvements of the last forty years” which the authors state “…have added immensely to its dignity and beauty.” One such improvement was the “noble east window, erected in 1903” as a memorial to members of the Beresford family.  The authors continue:

In recent years Deans Shaw Hamilton and McLintock have given generously to the beautifying of their cathedral church.  The walls of the choir have been faced with stone, and the north and south aisles have been raised 13 feet, while the choir, which previously occupied the eastern portion of the church, has been set back beneath the crossing.  The altar has been brought back to the second bay of the choir, and is enriched by a noble reredos of stone with an opus sectile representation of the Last Supper, and the easternmost bay has been gracefully fitted as a Lady Chapel, adding much to the dignity of the choir.

These improvements were effected under the guidance of the late Mr. Fellowes Prynne, and Dean McClintock could not have made a happier selection among architects of the day.