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‘The Longest Yarn’ exhibition crafts stories of wartime liberation in Enniskillen

From this week until Saturday, 8th February, St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen, is honoured to be the only venue in Ireland hosting The Longest Yarn, a three–dimensional wool tapestry and touring exhibition telling the story of the 80 days between D–Day and the Liberation of Paris in the summer of 1944.  The exhibition is open from 10am to 4pm.

This beautiful artwork’s story is told in this new video interview with Tansy Forster – the creator of the exhibition who is originally from Northern Ireland – and Dean Kenneth Hall, who serves as Rector of St Macartin’s and Dean of Clogher.  The Longest Yarn draws its name from the 1962 film The Longest Day.  Enniskillen is famous for being the only town in the British Isles after which two regiments are named – the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.

The display, carefully knitted and crocheted by hundreds of volunteers worldwide, depicts various scenes to tell a story of this momentous time in history, and the total exhibition measures 80 metres, representing the 80 years since D–Day.

The tapestry was first unveiled at Notre Dame Church in Carentan, France, on 28th May 2024 and has been touring cathedrals in England before arriving in Enniskillen ready for opening to the public from Tuesday, 14th January.  It took over 1,000 people knitting and crocheting from countries across the world, including the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France, to create the intricate scenes.

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