Armagh Cathedral: This contribution to Folklore Focus describes successive difficulties in church construction at Armagh.

The article focuses on folklore surrounding the construction of Armagh Cathedral, particularly stories attributing its building to St Patrick using tools he forged. One tale describes nightly sabotage by the devil, reflecting historical construction difficulties faced by St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, begun in 1838 and completed in 1904 after numerous delays. The folklore likely conflates this with St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, built on an early medieval monastery site in Armagh city. The narrative, contributed to the National Folklore Collection by a school in Kilmallock, highlights a less common portrayal of St Patrick’s wit and humor, describing him as a “schemer” (from the Irish scéimear), meaning a mischievous or roguish figure.