St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, ("Árd Eaglais Naomh Pádraig" in Irish), was founded in 1191, and is the larger of Dublin's two Church of Ireland cathedrals, and the largest church in Ireland.
Unusually it is not the seat of a bishop, as Dublin's Church of Ireland Archbishop has his seat in the nearby Christ Church Cathedral.
Saint Patrick is believed to have passed through Dublin on his travels around Ireland. He is said to have baptised converts from paganism to Christianity in a well close to where the cathedral now stands, so in memory of his visit a small wooden church was built on the site, one of the four Celtic parish churches in Dublin.
In 1191 John Comyn, the first Anglo-Norman archbishop of Dublin, raised this ancient church of Saint Patrick to the status of a cathedral. The present building, was erected in the 13th Century but little of this original building remains. From the very earliest years there were problems with seepage of water, with a number of floods, especially in the later years of the 18th century, caused by the surrounding branches of the River Poddle - even in the 20th century, it is reported that the water table was within 7.5 feet of the floor thus ensuring there would never be a crypt or basement area. Over the centuries as the elements, religious reformation, and persecution took their toll, the cathedral fell into disrepair, despite many attempts to restore it. Between 1860 and 1900 a full-scale restoration was carried out instigated by Benjamin Guinness in 1860-65, and inspired by the fear that the cathedral was in imminent danger of collapse.
There is almost no precedent for a two-cathedral city and this was the source of much tension over the years until this eventually settled, more-or-less, by the signing of a six-point agreement of 1300, Pacis Compositio which was in force until 1870.
Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Many of his famous sermons and "Irish tracts" (such as the Drapier's Letters) were given during his stay as Dean.
It is believed that Saint Patrick's was the origin of the expression "chancing your arm" (meaning to take a risk), when Gerald, Earl of Kildare cut a hole in a door there, still to be seen, and thrust his arm through it, in an effort to call a truce with another Earl, James of Ormond, in 1492.
Very little information exists which provides definitive details about Saint Patrick's life. He is said to have passed through Dublin in the 5th Century. According to legend he used a well somewhere in the vicinity (of what is now Saint Patrick's Cathedral) to baptise new converts to Christianity.
In 1901 building works beside the Cathedral unearthed six celtic grave slabs. These were subsequently dated to the 10th century. One of these large stones was covering the remains of (what looked like) an ancient well and its possible that this was the same well which Saint Patrick used in the fifth century. The presence of these stones also proves that the site has been in use for at least one thousand years.
The first record of there being a building was in 890 when Gregory, King of Scotland, visited a church. The decision to build a church here was probably based on the possible connection with Saint Patrick. This site was then chosen in 1190 by Archbishop John Comyn to be raised to Cathedral status and eventually the small wooden church was replaced with today's structure. Again its likely that Comyn made the decision to elevate Saint Patrick's on the supposed connection with the saint.
Over the years the Cathedral has become home to a variety of sculptures, statutes and windows which are all themed around the life of Saint Patrick. The traditional image of the saint, which has emerged over time, is of an old man wearing a mitre and holding a crozier. However no sources exist to give us any idea of what the saint really looked like and the traditional image is probably very unrealistic. The saint never held any high ranking positions in the Church of his day and therefore he would not have worn a mitre.
The best source from the period is the "Confessio" which is reputed to have been written by the saint himself. A recent translation of this source into English can be viewed here.