Cathedrals and Parish Churches

 

Christ Church Cathedral

Standing on high ground in the oldest part of the city, Christ Church cathedral is one of Dublin's finest historic buildings. It dates back to 1038 when Sitric, the then Danish king of Dublin, built the first wooden church here. In 1171 the original simple foundation was transformed into a cruciform stone church, though the present structure dates mainly from 1871 to 1878 when a huge restoration was undertaken. Only the transepts, the crypt, and a few other portions date from the medieval period.

Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Community and Local Government

Christ Church Cathedral
Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Community and Local Government

Christ Church Cathedral

Standing on high ground in the oldest part of the city, Christ Church cathedral is one of Dublin's finest historic buildings. It dates back to 1038 when Sitric, the then Danish king of Dublin, built the first wooden church here. In 1171 the original simple foundation was transformed into a cruciform stone church, though the present structure dates mainly from 1871 to 1878 when a huge restoration was undertaken. Only the transepts, the crypt, and a few other portions date from the medieval period.

Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Community and Local Government

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St Patricks Cathedral

It is believed that St Patrick's Cathedral dates back to the days when the Danes controlled the city of Dublin. This building was only a parochial church until the 13th century when it was upgraded to a Cathedral. The church has gone through a lot of damage through the years including it being almost destroyed by Oliver Cromwell. Legend has it that St Patrick baptised converts to the Christian religion at an old well near where the Cathedral was built. Today there is a river still flowing under the Cathedral.

Copyright managed by the Library Council

St Patricks Cathedral
Copyright managed by the Library Council

St Patricks Cathedral

It is believed that St Patrick's Cathedral dates back to the days when the Danes controlled the city of Dublin. This building was only a parochial church until the 13th century when it was upgraded to a Cathedral. The church has gone through a lot of damage through the years including it being almost destroyed by Oliver Cromwell. Legend has it that St Patrick baptised converts to the Christian religion at an old well near where the Cathedral was built. Today there is a river still flowing under the Cathedral.

Copyright managed by the Library Council

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It was the influence of the Normans and the Cistercians that changed Irish churches from using the rounded Romanesque arch to the pointed arch of the Gothic, which then continued to dominate church architecture in the country until the Reformation (and again in the nineteenth century). It is thus not surprising that the medieval urban Cathedrals are in the Gothic style, built to provide space for an ever-increasing town population. Prime among these are the two Dublin Cathedrals of Christ Church and St. Patrick's  which, though heavily restored in the nineteenth century, are both essentially products of the thirteenth. But other towns and cities also benefited from this new building wave, including Kildare, Kilkenny and Limerick, and it is good to see these Cathedrals still being used for divine service by the Church of Ireland, to whom they passed at the Reformation.

Other towns built major parish churches comparable to those in England, and here St. Multose in Kinsale, St. Mary's in Youghal, St. Mary's in New Ross and St. Nicholas in Galway may be cited as being among the best representatives in the country. By far the most common late medieval churches in Ireland are the local parish churches, but these rarely have any architectural pretensions.

 

St. Canice's Cathedral

St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny contains some of the finest 16th century monuments in Ireland. The memorials stretch right across the social spectrum from the great figures of the house of Ormonde to the humble shoemaker and carpenter.

Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Heritage and Local Government

St. Canice's Cathedral
Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Heritage and Local Government

St. Canice's Cathedral

St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny contains some of the finest 16th century monuments in Ireland. The memorials stretch right across the social spectrum from the great figures of the house of Ormonde to the humble shoemaker and carpenter.

Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Heritage and Local Government

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Strade Abbey

An example of altar figures at Strade Abbey, Co. Mayo

Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Community and Local Government

Strade Abbey
Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Community and Local Government

Strade Abbey

An example of altar figures at Strade Abbey, Co. Mayo

Image courtesy of Dept. of Environment, Community and Local Government

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Tomb Sculpture

An important feature of later medieval Cathedrals, abbeys and friaries, is the richness of the funerary sculpture they contain. This includes many effigies of knights both Norman and Hiberno-Norman, as well as of bishops and lay-men, often laid on top of a box-like tomb, the supporting surrounds of which are frequently decorated with 'weepers' - figures of apostles and other saints. St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny has one of the finest selections of such sculptures, particularly of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, but noteworthy also are the tomb and altar figures at Strade in Co. Mayo , and the Passion panels and other figures on the Creagh tomb in Ennis friary. Less conspicuous, but very typical of the West of Ireland, are tomb-niches in walls.