St. Patrick’s Cathedral

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

The present Cathedral building, in terms of shape and size, dates from 1220-1259. It was constructed on the site of an ancient well (which was supposed to have been used by St. Patrick himself). The building replaced an earlier (probably wooden) church. The building constantly evolved over the course of the next 700 years. After the English Reformation Saint Patrick’s became an Anglican Cathedral and modifications were made to its interior to suit new theological changes. By the start of the 19th century the Cathedral was in a dire state of disrepair. Between 1860 and 1865 the Cathedral was extensively restored and repaired, the cost of which was funded by Benjamin Lee Guinness.

Source: https://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/the-history-of-the-building/

Association with Poddle

The Poddle, after leaving the “Tongue,” branched off into two streams, one going by Marrowbone Lane, Pimlico, Ardee St., Warrenmount, and the rere of New Row, through the grounds of St. Thomas’s Abbey, and enclosed St. Patrick’s Cathedral on one side, while the parent stream flowed down from Harold’s Cross to enclose the other side, thus making St. Patrick’s Cathedral a church on an island.

What the Newspapers Say

  • Freeman’s Journal, 15 Sep 1882: Three persons killed. Yesterday, shortly after noon, without a moments’ warning, one  of the huge buttresses of the north chancel of St. Patrick’s Cathedral fell to the ground with a terrific crash, the force of which smashed the pile of masonry into a great heap of debris. The Cathedral is built upon the lowest ground in the city, and almost since its partial restoration after a fire in the latter part of the fourteenth century its base was subject to the disastrous effects of water lodging around the foundations. The Poddle River, which runs beneath the building, is the cause of the lodgement of water, and frequently causes an inundation of the grounds.
  • Evening Herald, 27 Jun 1901: Interesting discovery at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In a letter to the Dean of St. Patrick’s, Sir Thomas Drew draws attention to a very interesting discovery just made at St. Patrick’s Cathedral —  namely, the finding of the undoubted site and record of the ancient well of St. Patrick, from where this most ancient church’s foundation had its origin. The well itself had disappeared. Mr. Harty, with me, attribute this to a diversion of the Poddle by an arched culvert, which directed the waterpower along the west front of the Cathedral, turned a corn mill built against the west front of the Cathedral itself, and gave its name to the Cross Poddle, and went on to grind at other mills.
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