Keep Calm and Frolic On: Majesty and Magnitude: Christ's Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral of Dublin

On Wednesday the 27^th of March, a cold and blustery day, we of the ISP took the trip down to Dublin to see, among other sites, two cathedrals, Christ’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We took tours at both locations, and thus learned much about their histories, as well as about their lasting significance to Ireland.

Christ’s Church, a Church of Ireland, was built in 1172 by a man named Silkenbeard. Its original structure was wooden. It was formally named the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. It houses Strongbow’s tomb and crypt, and boasts some of the largest crypts of any churches in Ireland. Handel’s Messiah was first performed at Christ’s Church. Although Jonathan Swift did not initially want this work to be performed because he found it profane, he allowed it to be performed in the end, and it was thus at the site of Christ’s Church that the very first Hallelujah Chorus was sung. When the church was in need of restoration, a man by the name of George Edmund Street helped to fund the process. It still functions today as a working church, and people from around the world come to tour it in all of its splendor.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, apart from what its name might suggest, is not actually a Roman Catholic cathedral, either. It was built from 1191-1270, in the Gothic style, and although it was originally Roman Catholic, it became during the Protestant Reformation a part of the Church of Ireland; this change over time gives the cathedral a uniquely rich and diverse history. The church itself is located on the River Poddle in Dublin, and it is known as the largest and tallest cathedral in all of Ireland. It was built on the River Poddle because it was believed to be the location of a well in which St. Patrick, after whom the cathedral was named, baptized new believers into the Christian faith. In the 1600s, Cromwell used St. Patrick’s as a stable over the course of his campaign of violence across the nation of Ireland. After some time, the church fell into disrepair, and Arthur Guinness funded its restoration in the later nineteenth century (1860-1865). Among other associations with famous people, the well-known Irish writer Jonathan Swift is buried at St. Patrick’s. Physically, the cathedral is stunning. Its sheer size alone possesses theological implications; the builders were very conscious of the way in which the overwhelming size of the cathedral would inspire awe and remind one of one’s own smallness in the grand scheme of things, and within the theological realm. The high ceilings within also aspire to this function. Once inside the cathedral, one’s eyes are drawn immediately upward toward the stained-glass windows and, further up, the high vaulted ceiling. These factors of height and grandeur, inescapably present on the inside of the structure, are also theologically significant; by drawing people upward in their focus, there is the implication of drawing people toward God, which is reflective of the role of the Church. The stained-glass windows of St. Patrick’s are large and ornate, and had the functional purpose of conveying portions of the biblical narrative to those who were illiterate or who wanted to experience more of the richness of the biblical text through visual art. The church as a whole is set into a cruciform shape, which is symbolic of the cross on which Jesus died for the salvation of all. Also of note are the Door of Reconciliation (whose story involves two feuding families who reconciled through the door) and the organ (which is the largest in all of Ireland, with over 4,000 pipes).

The historical significance of Christ’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral to Ireland can largely be seen in the change that they have undergone since the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Although they at first stood as Roman Catholic cathedrals, this mode of existence changed after King Henry VIII ordered that all the churches in England and Ireland should either convert to Protestantism or be shut down. St. Patrick’s and Christ’s Church embraced the theological shift, and began their journeys as churches under the category of the Church of Ireland, which is comparable in its doctrine to the Anglican Church. They were able to survive as churches because of this shift. Both Christ’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral are lastingly significant not only because they represent some of the richness of Irish religious history, but because they are still used today for the function for which they were originally intended. They stand, thus, as both a testament to historic Christian belief and as a testament to the lasting nature of this belief—cathedrals, like historic Christian belief, have stood the test of time, and both continue to inspire Christians today. Cathedrals serve as a potent reminder of the grandeur of God, and of the power that a majestic and intentionally theocentric environment can have on worship.

Our group’s personal reactions to the sites varied. Some reflected that the churches felt more like museums than actual functioning churches, given the bustling tours and gift shops at each; we may have experienced a different flavor, for instance, if we had decided to attend actual church services there rather than to simply take the tours that were offered. Many of us were also struck by the stories that the tour guide at St. Patrick’s told about workers who would, in their attempts to fix some issues of piping, stumble across dead bodies that could not be buried very deep below the ground because the River Poddle runs right under the church. Experts are not sure exactly how many bodies are buried at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but estimates suggest that between six hundred and eight hundred bodies may be interred on church grounds. This number amazed us! With all the surprises that these tours had in store for us, we certainly emerged with a greater appreciation for the rich history and current richness of faith that exists inside of and because of these glorious cathedrals.