Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

Since the Reformation the mother church of the Protestant archdiocese of Cashel had been St. Patrick's Cathedral, gloriously situated on the Rock of Cashel. That cathedral, built in the thirteenth century, had gradually fallen into disrepair, and was closed for worship in 1721. With the medieval parish church serving as the de-facto cathedral in the meantime, construction on a new cathedral was completed in 1784. Cashel was one of two Irish cathedrals built in the eighteenth-century Georgian style, the other being at Waterford. 

The spire was not part of the original cathedral, but was later added in 1812.The cathedral is classically Georgian in its form and appearance, with aedicules, pediments, pilasters, rounded windows and a spire. Alongside the cathedral was built a library, also designed in the Classical style, dedicated to Theophilus Bolton (1678-1744), archbishop of Cashel. 

View towards the chancel.

The chancel was remodeled in the nineteenth century in a gilded Italianate style by local architect, William Atkins. 

St. Macartan's Cathedral, Monaghan

Located in the province of Ulster, the diocese of Clogher straddles the Irish border, with parishes in counties Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Donegal. The Catholic cathedral is located in the country town of Monaghan. Dedicated to a sixth century bishop of Clogher, Macartan, construction of the cathedral commenced in 1861. The chosen architect was J.J. McCarthy, dubbed by some as the 'Irish Pugin'. A founder member of the Irish Ecclesiological Society, McCarthy had been strongly influenced by the work of Pugin and the Gothic Revival . The chosen style French Gothic. 

A view of the west front

When McCarthy died in 1882 the cathedral was still unfinished. The tower and spire were added by a local architect, William Hague Jn, between 1882-92. 

The view towards the high altar

In the wake of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) alterations were made to many churches to allow for the celebration of the Mass on forward facing altars. In some reorderings were sympathetic, with only minor changes being made to the overall appearance of sanctuaries. In others what occurred was more unfortunate. At Monaghan nearly all of the original Victorian fittings that can be seen here were removed in what was one of the most drastic and unsympathetic reorderings. The sanctuary was entirely overhauled with the high altar and ciborium removed. 

A view towards the sanctuary and high altar

Here the high altar is adorned with a ciborium, the large stone canopy. Ciboria, sometimes but incorrectly  known as baldacchinos, trace their heritage to Roman antiquity and to the Temple of Jerusalem, and the Holy of Holies, the most sacred area of the Temple where the Ark of the Covanent was kept. In the early Christian Church ciboria were often draped with curtains on all sides, so that at the point of consecration the curtains were drawn, and all was out of view. 

A view towards to the west window and organ gallery

St. Edan's Cathedral, Ferns, Co. Wexford

The village of Ferns is situated in the southeastern county of Wexford. This Church of Ireland (Protestant) cathedral is dedicated to Edan (Aidan), a great seventh century Irish missionary. The small cathedral is believed to date to the thirteenth century, although little remains today from the medieval period; the present day church largely being a nineteenthcentury reconstruction.

The cathedral graveyard is the burial place of the great twelfth century Norman invader Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, better-known as Strongbow. 

A view of the chancel looking east. 

A church is of course not designated a 'cathedral' because of size, but rather because it is the seat of a bishop. In most Irish dioceses the Church of Ireland population was not large, therefore, many of its cathedrals were relatively small buildings, often more like parish churches than vast cathedrals. Here at Ferns you can see the canopied cathedra, or bishop's throne, on the right. The box pews have since been removed but were a common nineteenth-century fitting. To the rear, just left of the pulpit, the blind arcading is one of the few remaining traces of the medieval cathedral. The cathedral was essentially rebuilt in the early twentieth century, with today's view bearing little resemblance to the above.  

A view from the churchyard, with the remains of the medieval cathedral in the foreground. 

St. Coleman's Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork

St. Coleman's, Cobh is the cathedral church of the Catholic diocese of Cloyne. Perched high above the port below, its location over looking Cork Harbour was a dramatic statement by the Catholic community of its new found confidence and wealth in the post-Emancipation period. Construction of the new cathedral began in 1867 to the designs of Edward Welby Pugin and George Ashlin. Built in the early French Gothic style the cathedral has been described as the most ambitious project undertaken by the Irish Church in the nineteenth century, taking some forty-seven years to build, completed only in 1915, at a cost of £235,000. 

The cathedral c. 1914

The view from the harbour below

In the nineteenth century Cobh, known then as Queenstown, was transformed into one of Ireland's busiest ports, with an estimated 2.5 million Irishmen and women departing for North America from there. Famously it was the final port of call for RMS Titantic, before setting off on its ill fated Atlantic voyage. 

A view of the north aisle looking east. To the right is the magnificent pulpit carved from Austrian oak.

The great west rose window, characteristic of French Gothic cathedrals. 

An early picture of the high altar, with only the centre window adorned with stained glass. In spite of recent attempts, and unlike many Catholic cathedrals in Ireland, St Coleman's survived the ravages of reordering since the 1960s, with the altar and sanctuary remaining wholly intact.