Cathed., St. Patricks — Unknown Townland

St. Patrick's Cathedral built in the 13th-century was the largest church in Medieval Ireland. It occupied the site of a pre-Norman church known as St. Patrick in insula which is mentioned c. 1121 and in the earliest lists of Dublin City Parishes as in 1179 (Gwynn & Hadcock 1970, 71-72, Clarke 2002, 17, A 15). Archbishop Henry of London commenced the building of the new cathedral c. 1225 (Sweetman 1875, 1, No. 1241). It became the first University of Ireland (1320-1520). By the 16th century, it was in ruinous condition but restored to its present stale in the 19th century. The 13th century church was of cruciform plan, with a choir, aisled transepts and aisled nave (L 87.17, Wth across transepts 48.9m). The Lady chapel was added to the E end in the 13th-century. A tower built in 1372 AD adjoins the N side of the W end. The cathedral was originally entered in the W gable. The S porch is a 19th century addition.  The cathedral was described in the Urban Survey of Dublin City (Bradley and King 1988, Vol. 1, 73-8) as follows; ‘This was a pre-Norman parish church in origin. One of the witnesses to the charter of 14 May 1178 by which Laurence O' Toole confirmed the existing privileges of Christ Church Cathedral was a priest of St Patrick's church (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 71-2) . The church, known as St Patrick in insula ("on the island") is also listed in the earliest list of Dublin city parishes, in Alexander III's bull of 19 April 1179. In 1191 Archbishop John Comyn raised it into a collegiate church, with a "college of clerks of approved life and learning, who may supply an example of life to others and minister instruction to the simple" (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 72) . The new collegiate church was consecrated on St Patrick's day 1192, and on the 1st of April following Celestine III issued a bull confirming all the grants of prebends to the clergy of the church by John Comyn (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 72).  Comyn seems to have made no provision for officials but his successor Archbishop Henry of London established the dignities of dean, chancellor, precentor and treasurer in 1220-1. This had the effect of giving St Patrick's the status of a cathedral church.  The foundation of a new cathedral within the same diocese and in such close proximity to Christ Church Cathedral was unusual, but not unique. In England the cathedrals of Bath and Wells, and Coventry and Lichfield, existed within the same diocese. The reason for the new foundation was presumably to extend the power and patronage of the archbishop, who would have had less room to manoeuvre at Christ Church Cathedral which was controlled by a monastic chapter, composed of Ostmen and Irishmen. In England, at this time, secular chapters were becoming popular and both John Comyn and Henry of London probably saw the importance of a chapter with prebends rich enough to maintain able men as officials both in ecclesiastical and secular administration (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 72). English born clerks were in control of the chapter of St Patrick's from the beginning and many bishops and archbishops of Irish dioceses were to be promoted from their number.  Indeed, it is significant that after the foundation of St Patrick's cathedral, no canon of Christ Church ever became archbishop of Dublin.  Archbishop Henry of London seems to have commenced building a new cathedral c. 1225. In April 1225, Henry III granted protection for four years to preachers going throughout Ireland to beg alms for the fabric of St Patrick' s Cathedral (Sweetman 1875-86, Vol. 1, no. 1241) . The work was continued under his successor Archbishop Luke de Netterville (1228-55) and the new cathedral was formally consecrated in 1854 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 72). The cathedral was damaged in 1316 when the citizens burnt it on the threatened approach of Edward Bruce. In 1321 plans were formulated to establish a studium generale or papal university at St Patrick's, for the benefit of Irish and Anglo-Irish students alike. A chancellor and professors were appointed but the plan did not receive papal approval largely because of Archbishop Alexander Bicknor's (1317-49) failure to discharge debts to the curia. In 1362 the tower and the western part of the nave were seriously damaged by fire and in 1372 a new tower was built at the west end of the nave by Archbishop Thomas Minot (1363-75) . In 1432 Archbishop Richard Talbot (1417-49) established a college of six minor canons and six choristers, an indication that polyphonic music was receiving attention in Ireland at this time (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 74). In 1546 Henry VIII ordered the supression of the dean and chapter of St Patrick's Cathedral, and its prebends were surrendered to the king. St Patrick's functioned as a parish church for eight years until 1554 when its cathedral status was restored by Mary. The collapse of the nave vaulting in 1544 put the church in a ruinous condition and it so remained until the restorations of c. 1845 and 1864 under the patronage of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness. Architectural Description: The thirteenth cathedral was of cruciform plan, with a choir, aisled transepts, an aisled nave, and a belfry over the crossing (Rae 1979, 32-5). The Lady Chapel at the east end was also of thirteenth century date, but it was not an initial feature of the buiIding. The nineteenth century reconstruction makes it difficult to separate old work from new, but Rae (1979) has recently examined all of the sculpture in detail and succeeded in identifying the medieval sections, and the structural sequence of the building. The two western bays of the south aisle of the nave are possibly the oldest part of the cathedral and it has been claimed that they may have formed part of the building which preceded the present cathedral  (Rae 1979, 30-1). The ribs of the vault are chamfered and rise from the round abacus of a splaying capital, and it is equally possible that it is a late medieval feature. The thirteenth century cathedral was the largest church in medieval Ireland measuring approximately 87.17m (286 feet) in length and 43.9m (144 feet) across the transepts. The nave and choir are close to 10m (30 feet) in width between the piers and some 17m (56 feet) in height. There are eight bays in the nave, three in each transept arm, and four in the choir. Minot's tower, built in 1372 adjoins the north side of the west end, and there is a single entrance in the west facade. One feature of the Gothic cathedral which has since disappeared is a chapel which projected from the east side of the north transept (Rae 1979, 31). The south porch is a nineteenth century addition. The flying buttresses are not a feature of the original design. Some were added in the seventeenth century and Rae (1979, 35-6) has suggested that others may have been constructed in the later middle ages. The construction, style and differing heights of the vaults in the Lady Chapel and the adjoining chapels of St Peter and St Stephen clearly shows that these were built after the choir. The Lady Chapel was substantially rebuilt in the nineteenth century but contemporary drawings suggest that much of the masonry of the eastern end wall is original (Rae 1979, Pl. IIa). The freestanding supports with moulded capitals are reconstructions based on the evidence from Salisbury Cathedral (Rae 1979, 39). It is not possible, at present, to assign it a closer date than c. 1230-1270. The choir consists of three stages, arcade, triforium and clerestorey. The vaulting is of nineteenth century date, and the only thirteenth century portions are parts of the wall ribs and a large portion of the arch which separates choir from crossing. Much that is original remains of the string course and capitals below the vaulting ribs (Rae 1979, 42) . Most of the capitals at triforium level are of thirteenth century date, but only about twenty-five of the foliate capitals of the arcade are original. These latter capitals are of stiff-leaf form and show close relationship to work in western England and Wales at the end of the twelfth century and the first half of the thirteenth. The north transept seems to be largely a nineteenth century rebuilding but the south transept contains a number of original Gothic capitals and vaulting (Rae 1979, 53-9). The crossing is formed by four substantial piers supporting a diagonal ribbing. The original vaulting of the nave has vanished and substantial changes were made to it in the fourteenth century. Bays one to four from the crossing on the north side preserve many original sections of the arches, and the bay next to the crossing in the south aisle also contains original work. The rebuilding that took place after the fire of 1362 is evident on the north side of the western part of the nave where Minot's Tower and the four western most bays were completely rebuilt. Rae (1979, 65) has suggested that some of this work may be as late as the 1390s. Eighteenth century illustrations of the west end show that it was also rebuilt about this time or in the succeeding century.   Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on the Urban Survey of Dublin City