Saint Patrick's Cathedral
Ireland's largest church, a medieval Gothic cathedral where Jonathan Swift was dean.
Saint Patrick's Cathedral stands on a site traditionally associated with a well used by Saint Patrick for baptisms. A church here was raised to cathedral status in 1191 and largely rebuilt in the Early English Gothic style from about 1220. At roughly 91 metres long it is the largest church in Ireland, and since the Reformation it has been the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland, while Christ Church remains the diocesan cathedral of Dublin.
Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, was dean from 1713 until his death in 1745 and is buried in the nave beside Esther Johnson, his 'Stella'. The building fell into serious decay and was restored between 1860 and 1865 at the expense of Benjamin Lee Guinness. Inside are the Boyle Monument, medieval floor tiles, regimental colours and the door of the 1492 quarrel between the Butlers and the Fitzgeralds, which gave the phrase to chance one's arm.
Highlights
- Burial place and memorials of Dean Jonathan Swift
- The Door of Reconciliation of 1492
- The towering Boyle Monument in the south-west corner
- Daily choral services sung by the cathedral choir
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
