The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

church of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin The Diocese of Elphin (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the western part of Ireland. It is in the Ecclesiastical province, Metropolitan Province of Tuam and is subject to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam, Metropolit ...

. It is located on Temple Street in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The cathedral was developed by Bishop Laurence Gillooly who had been appointed

Bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but ...

in 1858. He decided that the diocese was now of a size and wealth that the time had come to replace St. John's Parish Chapel, which had been recognised as the diocesan pro-cathedral. He engaged George Goldie, one of the foremost Catholic architects in England in the nineteenth century. The cathedral was opened for divine worship on 26 July 1874 by Cardinal Paul Cullen of Dublin. Modelled on a Normano–Romano–Byzantine style, it is the only example of a

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

cathedral built during the 19th century. Designed in the shape of a basilica, the church has a square, pyramid-capped tower, which reaches a height of 70 metres, and supporting turrets at the west end. It can seat 1400 people. The circular

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

incorporated in the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

with its five lancet windows behind the high altar, was originally designed as a mortuary chapel. File:Sligo-tower.jpg, Tower File:Sligo Cathedral, Ireland.jpg, The cathedral File:Sligo Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Nave and High Altar 2013 09 14.jpg, Interior of the cathedral, with the high altar

References

External links

Cathedral website
* Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on th
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
website * Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Republic of Ireland Roman Catholic churches in County Sligo Roman Catholic churches completed in 1874 George Goldie church buildings 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland 19th-century churches in the Republic of Ireland {{Ireland-church-stub