St. John's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Eoin) is a Roman

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 denomination ...

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 ...

. Designed by the architect

Philip Charles Hardwick Philip Charles Hardwick (London 1822–1892) was an English architect. Life Philip Charles Hardwick was born in Westminster in London, the son of the architect Philip Hardwick (1792–1870) and grandson of architect Thomas Hardwick (junior) ( ...

, ground was broken in 1857 and the first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

celebrated on 7 March 1859. It replaced a chapel founded in 1753.

History

Between 1855 and 1861, the English architect Philip Charles Hardwick was commissioned to design the cathedral. At the time he was engaged in some work on

Adare Manor Adare Manor is a manor house located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. The present house was built in the early 19th century, though reta ...

. On 1 May 1856 the foundation stone was laid, and the building was consecrated in 1859 but remained unfinished until July 1861. The building of the original structure was undertaken by Patrick Kenna, Glentworh Street. Thomas Byrne undertook the later construction of the tower and spire from 1879. Construction of the tower was delayed by storm damage in September 1882. Following interior renovations, on 21 June 1894 the cathedral was consecrated by Cardinal Logue. A large portion of the original pews, memorials, confessionals, and floor tiles survive. The Bishop's throne or

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

was produced in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in 1894, and has since been removed.

Architecture

Hardwick was influenced by his time under

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

, which can be seen in the

Gothic Revivalist Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style of the cathedral. M.A. Hennessy adapted Hardwick's sketches for the tower, which was constructed between 1879 and 1883, with Hennessy adding 105 feet to the original design. The building is faced using local limestone. The tower was believed to be one of the tallest in Ireland when it was completed. The overall architecture has been described as "severe" with minimal external decoration, and small windows. There is just one statue featured on the façade. In comparison the tower and spire have more decorative adornments. Between 1893 and 1894, the interior was renovated by Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer which included a reordering of the sanctuary inspired by

St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham The Metropolitan Cathedral Church and Basilica of Saint Chad is a Catholic cathedral in Birmingham, England. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and is dedicated to Saint Chad of Mercia. Designed by Augustus Welby Pugin and ...

. This work was undertaken by Walter Doolin and Messrs Ryan, Limerick. The interior was again amended to take account changes relating to

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and 1 ...

. The altar is constructed using Limerick marble and features a carving depicting the sacrifice of Abraham.

Restoration

The most recent restoration work carried out was in 2003/2004 on the roof and exterior stonework. It is a Roman

cathedral, the city's original cathedral, St. Mary's Cathedral, being

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. The building was claimed to have the tallest

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

in Ireland at 94 m (308 ft), but a modern measurement showed it is only 81 m (266 ft), shorter than St. Colman's Cathedral, Cobh.

References

External links

St John's Cathedral
from Limerick Diocese website
Website in memory of the HardwicksSt. John's Cathedral History
From Limerick's Life {{Authority control John's Cathedral, Limerick Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Republic of Ireland Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick Religious buildings and structures in County Limerick Buildings and structures in Limerick (city) 1861 establishments in Ireland Roman Catholic churches completed in 1882 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland

History

Architecture

Restoration

See also

References

External links