Dublin Diocese Plans To Make St Andrews Church Become A Dublin Cathedral – Dublin finally gets a cathedral
The Dublin Diocese has plans to make St Andrew’s on Westland Row into a Cathedral, in which case St Mary’s Pro Cathedral would become a basilica.
This information comes from a twitter post by Michael Kelly, editor of Irish Catholic News. In his tweet he noted that this would be the first time Dublin would have a Catholic Cathedral since the reformation.
There was some questioning over what exactly the plans would entail, whether it would include further development of the current structure and if St Andrews was large enough, but as of right now the exact plans are unclear.
Kelly did say this change would come about on account of papal decree, and the reasoning behind the move was a sense that the development at St Andrews provided a unique opportunity in that it is “well placed to engage with the residential, commercial and cultural heart of the city”.
St Andrew’s Church was completed in 1837, named after St Andrew The Apostle. It hosts the organ of St Andrew’s which was made by John Whyte in1872. It was renovated and painted in1942 after ornamentation fell from the ceiling, after which all the sculptures were eventually restored. It is a baroque church created in classical style, closer to Roman designs than those of Anglican churches.
It contains a number of paintings, probably the most famous being “The martyrdom of Thomas Beckett,” which was given to the church by Daniel O’ Connell. As has been noted on FRG.IE in an article on St Catherine’s, Thomas Beckett was murdered in his cathedral by assassins sent by Henry II, and was commemorated in Dublin by the creation of The Abbey Of St Thomas The Martyr in the liberties.
St Catherine’s A History – FRG.ie
As for the current plans at St Andrew’s church, we await more news on the development.
