St Patrick's Cathedral - Dublin, Ireland - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

The Tourist Information Dublin website tells us:

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.

The Cathedral's website has some interesting "tales". The following are some of them:

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.

The Buildings of Ireland website has a listing for the cathedral that tells us:

Description

Freestanding cruciform-plan Church of Ireland cathedral, built c.1220-1260, comprising seven-bay nave, full-height gabled transepts to north and south, side aisles to nave and transepts, lady chapel to east end added c.1270, square-profile five-stage bell tower to north-west corner added c.1400, steeple added c.1749. Rebuilt, and north and south porches added c.1860-65. Flying buttresses to east end. Pitched slate roofs with corbelled eaves courses,crenellated battlements having cast-iron rainwater goods. Lean-to slate roofs with crenellated battlement to side aisles of nave and of transepts. Octagaonal spire to tower, crenellated battlements with corbel tables. Carved limestone cross finials to gables. Cut and carved limestone pinnacles to buttresses. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Snecked Calp limestone walls with cut limestone quoins, corbel tables, and string courses. Stepped pilaster buttresses to all elevations, some with niches. Cut limestone plinth course. Lancet openings to side aisles and clerestory with carved limestone surrounds and sills and hood mouldings with carved hood stops. Those to clerestory framed by colonnettes. Lancet openings to side aisles of transepts with dressed limestone surrounds, sills and hood mouldings with carved hood stops. Lancet openings and round-headed openings with triple-light windows to clerestory with dressed limestone surrounds,limestone colonnettes, limestone sills and hood mouldings with carved hood stops. Triple-light lancet window to gables with colonnettes with foliate capitals and sloping limestone sills. Triple-light window and trefoil opening over with dressed limestone surrounds. Choir having lancet openings to side aisles and clerestory with dressed limestone surrounds, sills and hood mouldings. Those to clerestory framed by colonnettes. Graded triple-light and five-light windows to end gable of east elevation of choir and side aisles. Lancet openings to Lady Chapel, with dressed limestone surrounds and sills and hood mouldings. Graded lancet windows and blind lancets to gable of Lady Chapel.Square-headed openings to bell tower, with ogee-headed insets and lancet openings to lower stages and pointed arch openings with curvilinear Y-tracery and louvers to belfry. Clock faces to north and west elevations. North porch and south porch each having pointed arch door opening with carved limestone surround comprising colonnettes with foliate capitals, hood moulding with carved hood stops and timber double-leaf door. Triple-light window to south porch, and trefoil opening over with chamfered limestone surrounds. Pointed arch door opening to west elevation, having carved limestone roll mouldings, hood moulding with sculpted portraits to decorative stops, double-leaf timber battened doors with strap hinges. Interior having carved limestone pointed arcade supported on octagonal-profile piers with engaged colonnettes to nave and choir. String course separating arcade from triforium. Pointed arches to triforium with inset pointed arches supported on marble colonnettes. Lancet window openings to clerestory. Bays separated by full-height engaged colonnettes with vaulting springing from capitals. Quadripartite vaulting to nave and choir with raised ribs with decorative bosses. Canopied choir stalls to choir. Ornate Portland stone pulpit with carved timber canopy to crossing. Wall monuments including that of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork to nave. Carved timber box pews. Cast-iron railings to chancel and crossing. Stained glass to windows to choir, transepts, nave and Lady Chapel. Decorative tiles to floor. Set in own grounds, with cast-iron railings on limestone plinths to west and south, enclosing statue of Benjamin Lee Guinness. Square-profile cut sandstone piers with carved caps to west having cast-iron pedestrian gate. Cast-iron railings to north.

Appraisal

Saint Patrick's Cathedral is a unique ecclesiastical building, constructed on a grand European scale with a history stretching back to the early medieval period. The first record of a church on the site dates to the early twelfth century though a number of early medieval grave slabs unearthed in the vicinity may indicate this church was built on the site of an earlier stone or timber building. It became a collegiate church in 1191 and was elevated to the status of a cathedral between 1212 and 1223. Construction of the cathedral was undertaken in the period between 1220 and 1260 and features including the flying buttresses and pointed arch openings are typical of the Gothic style of the time. The survival of medieval masonry, particularly in the choir and Minot's Tower, add archaeological interest. It has been much modified over its long life including the rebuilding of Minot's Tower in the early fifteenth century, the addition of its spire in the mid-eighteenth century, the replacement of the roof in the late seventeenth century and restoration work undertaken by R. C. Carpenter c.1845. A large scale restoration programme, undertaken between 1860 and 1865 under the patronage of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, is responsible for the cathedral's current appearance. St. Patrick's Park, which Guinness laid out on an adjacent site, provides an appropriate setting for the cathedral. The worked of skilled masons is evident in both the surviving medieval masonry and the restoration work. The combination of dark Calp limestone with the lighter limestone used for the dressings provides colour and textural variety to the exterior. The interior is ornamented with coloured floor tiles, stained glass windows and a number of well-executed monuments and wall tombs which add artistic interest.

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