Saint Mochutu Cathedral

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The cathedral from the south with the tower built in 1827 on the west side.

The Sankt Mochutu Cathedral ( English : St. Carthage's Cathedral ) in the city of Lismore is the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of Lismore of the Church of Ireland . It is dedicated to Mochutu (also Carthach , English: Carthage ), who founded a monastery on this site in 636 , from which a bishopric developed before the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111. The cathedral has not belonged to the Catholic Church since the Reformation . Individual parts of the church date from the 13th century; extensive renovations took place in the 17th and 19th centuries.

Geographical location

Mochutu chose a high-altitude site in the valley of the River Blackwater , which is still navigable in this section and offers access to the sea via the natural harbor of Youghal . The location was quite remote when it was founded, but it offered good access to drinking water and opened up the possibility of fishing.

history

Depiction of the Saints Mochutu, Catherine and Patrick (from left to right) on a tomb made in 1543 in the cathedral.

Mochutu had previously founded the Rahan Monastery (in what is now County Offaly ) and had been abbot there for over 40 years for a community of up to 800 monks. The surrounding monasteries, which included Clonmacnois , Durrow , Linally and Clonard in particular , were not very happy about this and asked the ruling Uí Néill to persuade Mochutu to return to his homeland in Munster . Mochutu was then expelled, and despite his old age he moved with some of his monks to the Blackwater, where he founded a new monastery that same year. He passed away three years later. His feast day is May 14th.

The monastery ran a school, which gained national importance, so that Lismore became one of the most important religious centers in Ireland. Lismore belonged together with the Dairinis monastery to the reform movement Célí Dé, active in the 8th and 9th centuries, which rejected the increasing secularization of the churches and monasteries, paid attention to strict asceticism and in particular also turned to the poor and the sick.

In 833 the monastery was sacked by the Vikings and burned down in 883. In 978 there was another looting in which the entire monastery was also burned down. Also in 978, monks were taken hostage by Brian Boru in an attempt to gain control of the monastery. In 1093 a peace agreement was made in Lismore between King Muirchertach Ua Briain and his brother Diarmaid with the mediation of the Bishop of Killaloe , Domnall Ua hÉnna .

From the time before the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, only three bishops have survived: Ronan († 763), Cormac mac Finnbar († 920) and Cinaed O Con Minn († 958). In the synod the bishopric was confirmed and extended to Waterford , with the seats alternating. This is apparently due to the influence of the Bishop of Waterford, Mael Iosa Ua hAinmire , who was consecrated by Anselm of Canterbury in 1096 and who belonged to the reform movement initiated by Domnall Ua hÉnna and continued by Maol Muire Ua Dunáin . A trend towards secularization of the episcopal see established itself here.

In 1151 Cardinal Giovanni Paparoni came to Ireland as the papal legate , together with Christian O Conairche , who had previously been the first abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Mellifont . Christian O Conairche had previously been ordained bishop of Lismore in Clairvaux and took over the office of apostolic legate until 1179, after Paparoni returned to Rome in 1152 . He took on an important role after the invasion of the English from 1169 and negotiated a. a. 1171 with the English King Henry II in Lismore.

After Christian O Conairche retired in 1179, Lismore lost its importance and the Bishop of Waterford attempted to annex Lismore for good. Although the Pope Innocent III. repeatedly supported Lismore against Waterford, the Lismore bishop Malachias was captured by the Waterford bishop Robert II and put in chains. It was not until 1363 that the two episcopal seats were formally united while both cathedrals and both chapters were retained.

After the Reformation, the amalgamation of the two dioceses was also taken over by the Church of Ireland, with the two churches in Lismore and Waterford retaining their cathedral status. After losing its cathedral in 1881, the Roman Catholic Church only built one parish church, which is also consecrated to Mochutu.

architecture

View from the south into the north transept. The pillars and the arch of the south transept at the transition to the crossing date back to the 13th century.

Bishop Miler Magrath leased the bishopric to Sir Walter Raleigth in 1589, who sold the property to Richard Boyle. The cathedral, built in the 13th century, was largely destroyed around 1600 by Edmund Fitzgibbon. Few of the original building elements have survived from this period, such as the pillar and arch of the south transept.

Boyle tried to restore the church by re-roofing the choir . However, he did nothing to save the nave or transepts . It was not until 1679 to 1687 that restoration work took place under the direction of the architect Sir William Robinson, during which the nave and transepts were roofed over, a tower was built over the crossing and a chapter house was added. Because of the later changes, only the chapter house and the roofs of the transepts have been preserved from this work.

Vault of the roof of the nave built in 1827 in neo-Gothic style.

Beginning in 1811, at the suggestion of the architect Sir Richard Morrison, the south and east walls were rebuilt after they had previously leaned outwards to such an extent that they had to be supported. In 1827 the new church tower was erected on the west side in the neo-Gothic style and in order to adapt the rest of the church, which was still in the classical style, a neo-Gothic vault was erected over the nave.

literature

Primary sources

  • Whitley Stokes: The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. London 1905.

Secondary literature

  • Aubrey Gwynn and R. Neville Hadcock: Medieval Religious Houses Ireland . Longman, London 1970, ISBN 0-582-11229-X .
  • Peter Galloway: The Cathedrals of Ireland . The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1992, ISBN 0-85389-452-3 .

Web links

Commons : St. Carthage's Cathedral, Lismore  - collection of images, videos and audio files

For the saint named Carthach (Carthagus, English Carthage) or Mo Chutu (Mochutu, † 637 ) see in the English-language Wikipedia Mo Chutu of Lismore .

Remarks

  1. ↑ See Galloway, p. 169.
  2. ↑ See Gwynn and Hadcock, p. 91; Galloway, pp. 166-168.
  3. ↑ See Galloway, p. 166.
  4. ↑ Note: You can also find the name form Mo Chutu (mac Fínaill) or Mo Chutu of Lismore and next to Carthage also Carthach (the Younger)
  5. ↑ See Gwynn and Hadcock, p. 43.
  6. ↑ See the Martyrologium des Oengus, registered under the name Charthaigh Rathin ; Pádraigh Ó Riain: A Dictionary of Irish Saints , entry on Mochuda of Lismore , p. 473, ISBN 978-1-84682-318-3 .
  7. ↑ Cf. James F. Kenney : The sources for the early history of Ireland: Ecclesiastical , ISBN 1-85182-115-5 , p. 468 ff. Colmán Etchingham: Church Organization in Ireland documents the care given to the poor and the sick AD 650 to 1000 , ISBN 0-9537598-0-6 , p. 359.
  8. ↑ a b See Gwynn and Hadcock, p. 91.
  9. ↑ See Gwynn and Hadcock, pp. 91-92.
  10. ↑ See Gwynn and Hadcock, p. 92.
  11. ↑ See Galloway, p. 167.
  12. ↑ a b cf. Galloway, p. 168.

Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 22.6 "  N , 7 ° 55 ′ 46"  W.