NORTHERN IRELAND: ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL (ROMAN CATHOLIC) OF ARMAGH AND DOWN CATHEDRAL (CHURCH OF IRELAND) OF DOWNPATRICK

 July 11, 2024

We made our way from the Protestant Saint Patrick's Cathedral to the Catholic Saint Patrick's Cathedral and were amused to see the figure on The Bishop's Monument looking over the valley at the rival church. With his right hand raised in blessing and his left indicating the spire of his own church, he seems to be making a statement about which church is better.

To be honest, I have to agree with him. This cathedral was built in phases between 1840 and 1904 after the Church of Ireland appropriated the medieval Cathedral of Saint Patrick discussed in the previous post. This cathedral is a significant structure for Catholics, who have a relatively weak presence in Northern Ireland.

I love the Gothic style, including this arcade of apostolic statues.

Solemn faces peering out at the modern world seem to be important figures, but the only one I think I can identify is the first--the Virgin Mary (although she could easily be someone else).

These two are identified by names carved in the base: St. Patrick (The One and Only) and St. Malachy (Archbishop of Armagh and first native-born Irish saint to be formally canonized).

I love the soaring Gothic arches and heavy columns of the interior.

The screen in the apse is beautiful. Hey! I realize now that we stumbled on a wedding! See the bride in her white veil and the groom in his black suit on the far right?

The details are exquisite.

I've come to love the Stations of the Cross, and these are especially nice.

The neighborhood surrounding St. Patrick's Cathedral is picture-perfect.

About 50 miles east of Armagh is Downpatrick, a town of 11,500 people that is most known for the Down Cathedral, aka The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Here is a view of the front and the back:

  

The cross in the picture on the right above is a replica of a cross carved in the 8th century and known as Saint Patrick's cross. The original cross is thought to have  marked the location of the grave of THE Saint Patrick near this church.

Several churches and monasteries have existed on this site, and the current cathedral dates to 1183 when Benedictine monks founded a monastery here that lasted 375 years before falling into decay. However, in the 1780s, work began to restore the church, and the project was completed in the early 1800s. More restoration work was completed in the 1980s.

No wonder so many people want to be buried in this churchyard!

Saint Patrick came to Ireland in 432 AD and proselyted all over the country. According to tradition, the Hill of Down is his burial place. 

Saint Patrick's grave is surprisingly modest.

The spot is marked by a large chunk of granite quarried about 10 miles away and placed here in 1900. The imprint of Saint Patrick's cross can barely be seen on the top.

Just inside the church are three granite fragments of the original cross erected in the late 8th or early 9th century.

The church itself is very Anglican--simple and unadorned relative to a Catholic cathedral.

The boxed up pews on either side are interesting.

But there is still straight-backed seating for the plebeians in the congregation.

Here are close-ups of the funky mosaics in the aisle above. I'm not sure exactly what those bird figures in the center represent, but they are very strange.

I'm always drawn to stained glass windows, and the windows here are one of the cathedral's best features.

My three favorites are this one depicting the Parable of the Good Samaritan:

. . . Jesus telling Mary and Martha that He is the resurrection and the life and that their brother shall rise again:

. . . and the angel at the Garden Tomb declaring, "He is not here; He is risen."

We were hungry and it was time for dinner. Luckily, Bob had scouted out a restaurant ahead of time: The Barn Bar and Country Kitchen.

On our way we saw another stack of pallets waiting for a bonfire. (Don't they ever run out of pallets?)

The Barn was a great little local spot where we had our fill of this first interesting dish that we can't remember at all and fish and chips.

And just for fun, here is a photo of a £10 note:

We were saying good-bye to our British pounds because our next destination was Dublin, back in the Republic of Ireland.