In the time of Bishop Bellew (1779–1812) Ballina became the ecclesiastical centre of the diocese. When the French landed at Killala he kept a low profile even though his brother joined the French forces and was killed. Bellew was involved in the two great issues of his time, the founding of Maynooth College and the struggle for Catholic Emancipation. In 1825 John MacHale, later Archbishop of Tuam, became coadjutor to Bishop Thomas Waldron who assigned to him a project first proposed in 1820: building a new cathedral to replace the old thatched church built about 1740. The first Mass was said in the new building in autumn 1831. The interior was left unfinished because of lack of funds. No work was done again until the 1840s. In 1846 the onset of the Great Famine put a halt to further work. All church resources had to be devoted to the alleviation of hunger. The cathedral was not completed until 1892 and has been renovated at a cost of £1.5 million.