Assumption Cathedral of Thurles

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South view of the cathedral

The Assumption Cathedral of Thurles ( English Cathedral Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary , Irish Ardeaglais Deastógála na Maighdine Beannaithe ) is the episcopal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly , which has its seat in Thurles . Planning for the cathedral began in 1862 under Archbishop Patrick Leahy ; In the period from 1865 to 1879, the cathedral was built under the direction of the Dublin architect James Joseph McCarthy in the Romanesque-Lombard style.

history

The Archdiocese of Cashel, which was established in 1111, originally had its cathedral on the Rock of Cashel , which however fell to the Anglican Church after the Reformation . Due to the strict legislation against the Roman Catholic Church, it could only exist underground or in exile for a long time, and the majority of the episcopal seats remained vacant for a long time. In 1703 there were only three Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland, and it was only very slowly afterwards that a new Roman Catholic diocesan administration was established. The first bishop consecrated for Cashel after this time was Christopher Butler in 1712, who was to be followed as bishop by two other members of the Butler family. The Butler family was one of the large land-owning families in Ireland, where the head of the family was Protestant and thus could hold the land, but the rest of the family remained Catholic. Very closely linked to the Butlers by marriage was the Matthews family, who secured their land in the same way. Both families supported the underground Roman Catholic Church. The Carmelite monastery, founded by the Butler family at the end of the 13th century, fell to the Butler family after the Reformation in 1557, which enabled the Carmelites to stay or return to Thurles. Immediately next to the monastery, the Matthew family built a larger, but still thatched chapel in 1730, which was later called the Old Chapel or Mathew Chapel . While Christopher Butler was not yet able to return to Ireland, his successor James Butler I came to Thurles in the mid-18th century and took up residence next to the chapel.

Statue of Patrick Leahy in front of his cathedral

At the end of the 18th century, legislation allowed Catholics more freedom, and so Archbishop Thomas Bray was able to build a new church, which was consecrated in 1809. It was built next to the Mathew Chapel in neo-classical style on the grounds of the former monastery, with the tower being integrated. It was called the Big Chapel , at which time all Catholic churches in Ireland were called a chapel regardless of their size . Archbishop Patrick Leahy, who has been in Thurles since 1857, felt that the Big Chapel was not the size of the archbishopric and announced in 1862 that a new cathedral would be built. At the time, he chose James Joseph McCarthy as the architect, whom he knew well because both were connected to the project for the Catholic University of Ireland . Leahy was previously its vice-president and McCarthy was one of the professors and the intended architect for the building, which then never came about. McCarthy was also established as an architect of Irish cathedrals. At the time of the contract, McCarthy was well known as the architect of the Armagh Cathedral , and construction of the Monaghan Cathedral began shortly before that . Although these cathedrals were built in the neo-Gothic style preferred by McCarthy, he could not convince Leahy, who preferred the Italian-influenced classicism, in this regard. McCarthy was able to assert himself at least with his preference for medieval architectural styles: he chose the cathedral of Pisa in the Romanesque-Lombard style as a model and added elements from the Irish Romanesque.

Choir area with the tabernacle transferred from Il Gesù in Rome

When Patrick Leahy took part in the first Vatican Council , he discovered the tabernacle that had been sorted out from Il Gesù in the course of the redesign of the choir , which was still designed by Giacomo della Porta , bought it and had it shipped to Ireland. Some changes were made in Ireland at his direction. For example, the tufa previously used on the back has been replaced by Irish, greenish Connemara marble. The import sparked more controversy in 1871, as the Irish Builder assumed it was a foreign contract and found it outrageous to ignore local artisans in such a way.

The happy collaboration between McCarthy and Leahy ended after Leahy's death, when his successor Thomas William Croke and George Ashlin hired McCarthy's greatest competitor as the architect to complete the building. At this point, however, the work had progressed relatively far, so that only a few areas of interior construction and interior decoration remained for Ashlin.

In the course of the reforms after the Second Vatican Council , there were some changes in the interior in 1979, but these were very cautious compared to other cathedrals in Ireland. So the altar was moved forward and the tabernacle was placed on a suitably designed new table. An ambo was added, but the old pulpit was not removed because of it. The Victorian floral pattern on the ceiling was replaced in 1973 with a more reserved and lighter decoration so that the interior appears less dark.

Architecture and equipment

The upper part of the facade on the south side

The cathedral faces north-south with the choir in the north and the large Lombard-Romanesque facade in the south. On the left, next to the south facade at the southwest corner, there is a 38 m high campanile with a clock donated by Archbishop Croke, on the right there is a baptistery, also based on Pisa . In the criticism, the contrast between the facade, which is characterized by very uniformly repeating elements, and the neighboring elements, which are very varied due to their height and round shape, wins. The facade design is based not only on the Pisa Cathedral, but also on the exterior design of Cormac's Chapel, the original bishopric of Cashel. The three levels of blind arcades use columns in red Cork marble on the two lower levels and green Connemara marble on the top level, which is interrupted by the rose window .

Interior view from the nave with a view to the northeast

Inside, the cathedral has the shape of a basilica with a side aisle on the east and west, separated by columns made of red Cork marble and capitals made of Pierre de Caen . The rose window in the south gable was designed by Franz Mayer & Co. from Munich . The hardly used pulpit is positioned under the first arch of the eastern transept . In both side aisles are side altars equipped with statues designed by Giovanni Maria Benzoni , which are stylistically based on the main altar. In the large tripartite windows on the west and east sides of the transept are elaborate stained glass by Irish artist William Earley .

The nave ends in an apse , which is surrounded by a nine-element ambulatory , which was furnished with 21 stained glass by William Wailes from Newcastle upon Tyne , which u. a. represent all apostles . The Croke Chapel is on the north side of the outpatient clinic .

literature

  • Aubrey Gwynn , R. Neville Hadcock: Medieval Religious Houses in Ireland . Longman, London 1970, ISBN 0-582-11229-X .
  • Jeanne Sheehy: JJ McCarthy and the Gothic Revival In Ireland . Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, Belfast 1977, ISBN 0-900457-21-X , pp. 63 .
  • Peter Galloway: The Cathedrals of Ireland . The Institute of Irish Studies, Belfast 1992, ISBN 0-85389-452-3 , pp. 203-206 .
  • Jeremy Williams: Architecture in Ireland: 1837-1921 . Irish Academic Press, 1994, ISBN 0-7165-2513-5 , pp. 348 .
  • William J. Hayes: Thurles . A Guide To The Cathedral Town. Lisheen Publications, Roscrea 1999, ISBN 0-9533709-2-5 .

Web links

Commons : Thurles Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Galloway, p. 203.
  2. ^ Gwynn, p. 63.
  3. ↑ EB Fryde et al. (Ed.): Handbook of British Chronology . Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-56350-X , pp. 417 . McCracken, JL: The ecclesiastical structure 1714-60 . In: TW Moody, WE Vaughan (ed.): A New History of Ireland IV: Eighteenth-Century Ireland 1691-1800 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1986, ISBN 978-0-19-956372-2 , pp. 91 .
  4. ^ Charles Chenevix Trench: Grace's Card . Irish Catholic Landlords 1690-1800. Mercier Press, Cork 1997, ISBN 1-85635-163-7 , pp. 146-152 .
  5. ^ Gwynn, p. 292.
  6. ↑ Galloway, p. 203.
  7. ↑ On Leahy's role as Vice President: Ian Ker: John Henry Newman's perception of the archbishop of Dublin . In: Dáire Keogh, Albert McDonnell (Ed.): Cardinal Paul Cullen and his World . Four Courts Press, Dublin 2011, ISBN 978-1-84682-235-3 , pp. 277-288 .
  8. ↑ Sheehy 1977, p. 25; Williams, p. 203.
  9. ↑ Galloway, pp. 205-206.
  10. ^ Williams, p. 348.
  11. ↑ a b c Galloway, p. 206; Williams, p. 348.
  12. ↑ Williams, p. 348; Galloway, p. 204.

Coordinates: 52 ° 40 ′ 48.6 "  N , 7 ° 48 ′ 32"  W.