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The Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar was the first
Believing the cathedral's brownstone construction made it fire safe, congregants and neighbors filled the cathedral with their valuables hoping in vain to protect them from the Great Fire of 1861. A week prior to the 1861 destruction by fire, the Cathedral's insurance policy was allowed to lapse. This lack of insurance coverage combined with the realities of the Civil War in Charleston caused the Cathedral ruins to stand for decades unaddressed. The ruins stood until the major
1868 painting of the ruins of the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar by William Aiken Walker
There is also a likeness of the Cathedral from April 1854 to December 1861 available in Wikipedia.
Image:St Finbar Ruins Charleston William Aiken Walker painting 1868.jpeg, St Finbar Ruins Charleston William Aiken Walker painting 1868
The Cathedral of Saint John the BaptistThe Institute for Sacred ArchitectureKnow It All - The Cathedral Church of St. John and St. Finbar
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, state=collapsed Religious organizations established in 1800 John and Saint Finbar Churches in Charleston, South Carolina Patrick Keely buildings Roman Catholic churches in South Carolina Gothic Revival church buildings in South Carolina Roman Catholic churches completed in 1854 Buildings and structures demolished in 1861 Former cathedrals in the United States Former churches in South Carolina 1854 establishments in South Carolina 1861 disestablishments in South Carolina Demolished buildings and structures in South Carolina 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
in Charleston, South Carolina. The cathedral followed the first Roman Catholic Church in Charleston, St. Mary's, founded around 1800. Construction began in 1850 with the cathedral consecrated on April 6, 1854. It was destroyed on December 11, 1861, in a fire that ravaged much of Charleston. A new cathedral—the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, built on the same site-was started in 1890. It opened in 1907 and was completed in 2010 with the addition of the long-anticipated steeple.
History
The first Bishop of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Charleston
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is an ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Roman Catholic Church in the Southern United States that comprises the entire state of South Carolina. Currently, the diocese consists of 96 parishes an ...
(previously the diocese of the Carolinas and Georgia), Bishop John England (of County Cork, Ireland), originally conceived of the Cathedral. In 1821 he purchased the site of a garden in Charleston called “New Vauxhall”. A house was on the lot, and on December 30, 1821, Bishop England blessed it as a temporary chapel and named it in honor of St. Finbar, the patron saint of Cork. He then set about planning and raising funds for a cathedral for the see. However, Bishop England did not live to see the Cathedral constructed. The Right Reverend Ignatius Reynolds succeeded Bishop England in 1844 and oversaw the final construction.
The Cathedral was designed by Patrick Charles Keely
Patrick Charles Keely (August 9, 1816 — August 11, 1896) was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildin ...
(of County Tipperary, Ireland) in the highly ornate Gothic Style, as a 219-foot-tall structure topped with a steeple and bronze cross. The Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar was, like its successor the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, clad in brownstone from Connecticut.
Believing the cathedral's brownstone construction made it fire safe, congregants and neighbors filled the cathedral with their valuables hoping in vain to protect them from the Great Fire of 1861. A week prior to the 1861 destruction by fire, the Cathedral's insurance policy was allowed to lapse. This lack of insurance coverage combined with the realities of the Civil War in Charleston caused the Cathedral ruins to stand for decades unaddressed. The ruins stood until the major 1886 Charleston earthquake
The 1886 Charleston earthquake occurred about 9:50 p.m. local time August 31. It caused 60 deaths and $5–6 million ($ million in ) in damage to 2,000 buildings in the Southeastern United States. It is one of the most powerful and da ...
caused the remains of the tower to collapse.
The fire that destroyed the Cathedral also destroyed the diocese seminary, the first Catholic free school for girls, the diocese 17,000-volume library, the offices of the first Catholic newspaper in the US (''The Catholic Miscellany''), and countless church documents. The total destruction left the congregation without a home for 29 years until the Cathedral's replacement with the new Keely designed brownstone Gothic style Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist at the same Broad Street location.
The original Cathedral was named for the well known St. John the Baptist and the lesser-known St. Finbar. Bishop John England is probably responsible for honoring St. Finbar in the naming of the Cathedral. St. Finbar was the founder of the abbey that became the City of Cork, Ireland. The Right Reverend John England was consecrated in Cork Cathedral prior to coming to Charleston in 1821 and was thus quite familiar with the Irish Saint Finbar. Other than being well represented in the naming of Catholic institutions throughout history, it is not known why St. John the Baptist was honored in the naming.
The Gibbes Museum of Art and the Carolina Art Association possess a famou1868 painting of the ruins of the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar by William Aiken Walker
There is also a likeness of the Cathedral from April 1854 to December 1861 available in Wikipedia.
See also
*List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
The following is a list of the Catholic cathedrals in the United States. The Catholic Church in the United States comprises ecclesiastical territories called dioceses led by prelate bishops. Each bishop is assigned to a cathedral from which he ...
*List of cathedrals in the United States
This is a list of cathedrals in the United States, including both actual cathedrals (seats of bishops in Episcopal polity, episcopal Christian groups, such as Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy and ...
* List of the works of Patrick Keely
References
External links
The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, state=collapsed Religious organizations established in 1800 John and Saint Finbar Churches in Charleston, South Carolina Patrick Keely buildings Roman Catholic churches in South Carolina Gothic Revival church buildings in South Carolina Roman Catholic churches completed in 1854 Buildings and structures demolished in 1861 Former cathedrals in the United States Former churches in South Carolina 1854 establishments in South Carolina 1861 disestablishments in South Carolina Demolished buildings and structures in South Carolina 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States