St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral

Armagh, United Kingdom

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland. It was built in various phases between 1840 and 1904 to serve as the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Armagh.

Although the decorative style of the cathedral was thus significantly changed in 1982, the building itself had not undergone any major structural works since the replacement of the aisle roofs in 1904.

The altar was inspired by early-Irish crosses and has imagery of Christ (Crucified, Risen, Return in Glory), flanked by Apostles, on three sides. The fourth side visible from the main body of the Church shows Our Lord with four Irish saints: St. Patrick, St. Malachy, St. Brigid and St. Oliver Plunkett. Two pairs of brass gates which had survived from the 1899 marble Rood Screen were replicated several times over, welded together, topped with an entirely unconvincing poor quality Gothic cresting and made into a new fully brass screen behind the high altar, restoring a separate Lady Chapel area as the culmination of an ambulatory around the sanctuary area. The tabernacle was removed to the South transept which was itself screened off with further brass screens and the Cathedra placed on a dais directly behind the new altar. An Evangelarium was created in the South tower (now converted to a shop) and the baptistry was restored at the base of the North tower. The base of McCarthy's reredos was restored and the 1904 inlaid marbles uncovered. 

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1840
Category: Religious sites in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.8/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.