Saint Mary's Cathedral, Limerick, is a cathedral of the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
in
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, which is dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
. It is in the
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...
of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
. Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, it is now the central cathedral in the
United Dioceses of Limerick and Killaloe.
From the foundation to the Irish Reformation
Limerick Cathedral (Saint Mary's) is dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
and was founded in
1168
Year 1168 ( MCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Levant
* Summer – King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and Byzantine emperor Manuel I (Komnenos), ne ...
and is the oldest building in Limerick which is in use.
[Harvey, Rev. Patrick and Moloney, Donal. A guide to the Cathedral Church of St. Mary The Virgin, Limerick. Limerick. Print.] It has the only complete set of
misericord
A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a par ...
s left in Ireland.
In
1111
Year 1111 (Roman numerals, MCXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Levant
* Battle of Shaizar: Sultan Muhammad I Tapar, Muhammad I (Tapar) appoints Mawdud ...
, the
Synod of Ráth Breasail
The Synod of Ráth Breasail (also known as Rathbreasail) ( Irish: ''Sionad Ráth Bhreasail'') was an Irish Catholic church council which took place in Ireland in 1111. It marked the transition of the Irish church from a monastic to a diocesan and ...
decided that "Saint Mary's church" would become the cathedral church of the
Diocese of Limerick. According to tradition,
Domnall Mór Ua Briain
Domnall Mór Ua Briain, or Domnall Mór mac Toirrdelbaig Uí Briain, was King of Thomond in Ireland from 1168 to 1194 and a claimant to the title King of Munster. He was also styled King of Limerick, a title belonging to the O'Brien dynas ...
, the last
King of Munster
The kings of Munster ( ga, Rí Mumhan), ruled from the establishment of Munster during the Irish Iron Age, until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the '' Book of Invasions'', the earliest ...
, founded the present cathedral on the site of his palace on
King's Island in 1168.
[Talbot, Very Rev. Maurice. Monuments of St. Mary's Cathedral. Print.] The palace had been built on the site of the
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
meeting place, or "Thingmote" – the Vikings' most westerly European stronghold.
This had been the centre of government in the early medieval Viking city. Parts of the palace may be incorporated into the present structure of the cathedral, most prominently the great west door, which is claimed to have been the original main entrance to the royal palace.
[Mulvin, Linda. History of the Cathedral of St. Mary's Limerick.] The west door is now only used on ceremonial occasions.
The bishops of Limerick have for centuries knocked on this door and entered by it as part of their installation ceremony. According to tradition, during the many sieges of Limerick the defenders of the city used the stones around the west door to sharpen their swords and arrows, and the marks they made in the stonework can be seen there today.
The tower of Saint Mary's Cathedral was added in the 14th century. It rises to 36.58 metres (120 feet), containing a peal of 8 bells, of which 6 were cast by
John Taylor & Co
John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...
, Loughborough, and 2 cast in
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. The tower also contains a stationary service bell, which can be rung from the ground floor.
Notable burials
File:Charles Graves (bishop).jpg, Bishop Charles Graves
The cathedral graveyard contains many graves and tombs of notable people. The physician
Samuel Crumpe
Samuel Crumpe (1766–1796) was an Irish physician and a writer on medical and social issues.
Life
Samuel Crumpe was born at Rathkeale on 15 September 1766. He was the eldest son of Daniel Crumpe and his wife and cousin, Grace, daughter of Ric ...
is buried in the graveyard near the great west door.
Prince Milo of Montenegro,
Frances Condell
Frances Condell (29 June 1916 – 10 November 1986) was the first woman Mayor of Limerick city. She was first elected in 1963 and was the only woman to serve two terms in the city.
Early life
Born as Frances Eades on 29 June 1916 Limerick to Jam ...
(first woman Mayor of Limerick) and Bishop
Charles Graves are also interred in the grounds. The last High King of Munster,
Domnall was purportedly buried in the cathedral, with the remnants of his stone coffin still visible in the Cathedral chancel. Bishop
Cornelius O'Dea is buried alongside several other Bishops of Limerick in what is believed to be an Episcopal vault underneath the chancel itself. Also notable are the Sexton, Barrington, Boyd and Vanderkiste tombs along the south entrance pathway.
From the Irish Reformation to the 19th century
There are five
chandeliers which hang from the ceiling. These are only lit on special occasions. The larger three of the five were made in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
and presented in 1759 by the Limerick Corporation.
The belfry holds a peal of eight bells, six of which were presented by William Yorke, mayor of Limerick, in 1673. An active team of bell ringers travels the country to compete with other
campanologists
Campanology () is the scientific and musical study of bells. It encompasses the technology of bells – how they are founded, tuned and rung – as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bellringing as an art.
It is common to collect t ...
.
Saint Mary's received its organ in 1624, when Bishop
Bernard Adams donated one. It has been rebuilt over the centuries and was most recently renovated in 1968 and 2005.
In 1620 the English-born judge
Luke Gernon
People
*Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
* Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known a ...
, a resident of Limerick, wrote a flattering description of the cathedral:
''"not large, but lightsome, and by the providence of the Bishop fairly beautified within, and as gloriously served with singing and organs"''.
During the
Irish Confederacy
Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
wars, the cathedral was briefly transferred to Roman Catholic hands. The bishop of Limerick,
Richard Arthur, was buried in the cathedral in 1646.
In
1651
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Charles II is crowned King of Scots at Scone ( his first crowning).
* January 24 – Parliament of Boroa in Chile: Spanish and Mapuche authorities meet at Boroa, renewing the fragile ...
, after
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
's forces captured Limerick, the cathedral was used as a stable by the parliamentary army. This misuse was short lived, but was a similar fate to that suffered by some of the other great cathedrals during the Cromwellian campaign in Ireland.
The troops also removed the cathedral's original 4 metre (13 foot) Pre-Reformation high altar from the cathedral. The altar was only reinstated in the 1960s. It is the largest such altar in Ireland and the UK, carved from a single limestone block.
The altar is used for communion services at major festivals and remains in its historic location in what is now the chapel of the Virgin Mary or
Lady Chapel
A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...
.
In
1691
Events
January–March
* January 6 – King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands.
* January 14 – A ...
, the cathedral suffered considerable damage, particularly on the east end, during the
Williamite
A Williamite was a follower of King William III of England (r. 1689–1702) who deposed King James II and VII in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs.
O ...
Siege of Limerick.
["The Cathedrals of the ]Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
" Day, J.G.F./ Patton, H.E. p153: London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, S.P.C.K., 1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
After the
Treaty of Limerick
}), signed on 3 October 1691, ended the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, a conflict related to the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War. It consisted of two separate agreements, one with military terms of surrender, signed by commanders of a French ...
,
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
granted £1,000 towards repairs. There are cannonball from 1691 in the
Glentworth Chapel/
Saint George's Chapel inside.
From the 19th century to the 20th century
In 1968, the Irish Government commissioned two postage stamps to commemorate the cathedral's 800 year anniversary. A picture of one of the stamps is displayed on this page. In 1991, there was a large £2.5 million restoration programme which was completed in 1996 with the excavation and re-laying of the floors as well as the installation of underfloor central heating.
Restoration continues today to a lesser degree.
From the 20th century to the 21st century
Today the cathedral is still used for its original purpose as a place of worship and prayer for everybody. It is also the 3rd biggest tourist attraction in Limerick. It is open to the public every day from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm. For Tourists there is a €5 admission charge upon entry. This money is essential for the upkeep of the building, and without it, the cathedral simply could not function.
Following the retirement of the Very Rev'd
Maurice Sirr on 24 June 2012, Bishop
Trevor Williams announced the appointment of the Reverend
Sandra Ann Pragnell as Dean of Limerick and Rector of Limerick City Parish. She was the first female dean of the cathedral and rector of Limerick City Parish, and retired in January 2017.
It was announced on 27 August 2017, that the Reverend Canon
Niall James Sloane was to become the 63rd Dean of Limerick and the new rector of Limerick City Parish; with his installation and institution taking place on 21 October 2017 in the cathedral.
The cathedral grounds holds a
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Memorial Plaque with the names of all the Irish men who died while serving in the United Nations Peacekeepers.
See also
*
Dean of Limerick and Ardfert List of deans of Limerick (and Ardfert)
References
External links
Official website
{{Cathedrals of the Church of Ireland
Mary's Cathedral, Limerick
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe
Religious buildings and structures in County Limerick
Buildings and structures in Limerick (city)
Burial sites of the O'Brien dynasty
Burial sites of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty
Pre-Reformation Roman Catholic cathedrals