The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas (

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

: ''Ard-Eaglais Mhaighdean na Deastógála agus Naomh Nioclás''), commonly known as Galway Cathedral, is a

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 lette ...

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 ...

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

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 ...

, and one of the largest and most impressive buildings in the city. Construction began in 1958 on the site of the old city prison. It was completed in 1965, making it the last great stone cathedral to be built in Europe. It was dedicated, jointly, to Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and to

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

History

A parish chapel was built around 1750 on Middle Street at Lower Abbeygate Street. In 1821 the chapel was replaced with a limestone church built in the Gothic style, and dedicated to St. Patrick. When the Diocese of Galway was established in 1831, St. Patrick's became the

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

. After the cathedral opened in 1965, St. Patrick's was deconsecrated.

Opening of the Cathedral

The Galway Cathedral was opened on 15 August 1965. President

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

lit the sanctuary candle and Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston delivered a sermon 'Why Build a Cathedral?'. Bishop Michael Browne, Bishop of Galway, was accompanied on the altar by four Archbishops.

Architecture

The architect of the cathedral was John J. Robinson who had previously designed many churches in Dublin and around the country. The architecture of the cathedral draws on many influences. The

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

and pillars reflect a

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought a ...

. Other features, including the rose windows and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s, echo the broad tradition of

Christian art Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media. Images of Jesus and narrati ...

. The cathedral dome, at a height of 44.2 metres (145 ft), is a prominent landmark on the city skyline. During a controversial interview on Telefís Éireann's '' The Late Late Show'' in 1966,

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

student Brian Trevaskis referred to the building as a "ghastly monstrosity". More recently, it was described in an Irish Times article concerning "ugly" Irish buildings as a "squatting Frankenstein’s monster" and "a monument to the hubris of its soft-handed sponsors".

Liturgy

Mass is celebrated every day in the cathedral. There is a Saturday evening Vigil mass at 6pm, and Sunday masses at 9am (i nGaeilge), 10:30am, 12:30pm and 6pm. On weekdays and holy days, mass is celebrated at 11am and 6pm.

Music

Choir

The cathedral has been home to an adult

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

since the building was dedicated, the role of which is to provide the music at all major ceremonies and services as well as at the regular Sunday 10.30 am Mass. The choir's repertoire covers music from the 16th to the 21st centuries, as well as

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

and Irish traditional music.

Organs

The cathedral

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

was originally built by the Liverpool firm of Rushworth & Dreaper in 1966; it was renovated and greatly expanded by Irish organ-builder Trevor Crowe between 2006 and 2007. It has three manuals and 59 speaking stops, and is used regularly during services as well as in the annual series of summer concerts. The cathedral also has a smaller portable instrument, with one manual and four stops. It is used in smaller-scale liturgy in the cathedral's side chapels, as well as in a continuo role in concerts.Galway Cathedral webpage
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The Gallery Organ stoplist since 2007

Manual compass: 61 notes
Pedal compass: 32 notes
Key-action: electro-pneumatic
Stop-action: electric
16 general combinations, with 96 levels of memory
8 combinations to each division, with 16 levels of memory
Sequencer with 999 memory slots

The Choir Organ stoplist since 2006

Manual compass: 56 notes
Key- and stop-action: mechanical

Gallery

File:Galwaycathedralinterior2.jpg, The sanctuary File:Galway Cathedral (6254030278).jpg, The sanctuary from transept File:Galway Cathedral (6254031600).jpg, Nave from the sanctuary File:Galway Cathedral (7061207855).jpg, Rear nave and organ loft File:Galway Cathedral (7061216017).jpg, Sculpture and stained glass windows File:Galway Cathedral (7061228289).jpg, Dome and pendatives above the crossing File:Galway Cathedral (6254033618).jpg, High Altar and mosaic File:Galway Cathedral (6915116802).jpg, nave

Burials

* Michael Browne *

Eamonn Casey Eamonn Casey (24 April 1927 – 13 March 2017) was an Irish Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh in Ireland from 1976 to 1992. His resignation in 1992, after it was revealed he had had an affair with an American woman, ...

* James McLoughlin * Thomas O'Dea *

Thomas O'Doherty Thomas O'Doherty (21 November 1877 – 15 December 1936) was Bishop of Clonfert and Bishop of Galway successively from November 1919 to July 1936. Early life and education O'Doherty was born at Loughglynn, Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon o ...

References

External links

Galway Cathedral website

Galway Cathedral Recitals website
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Roman Catholic churches in Galway (city) Churches in County Galway Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Republic of Ireland Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Roman Catholic churches completed in 1965 Tourist attractions in Galway (city) 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland