Your grandma’s probably lovely and, let’s face it, she’s not going to be here forever. So wouldn’t it be a nice gesture to show her that she was on your mind while you were on holiday? But what are you going to get her? An amusing t-shirt bearing a ribald remark? A stolen pint glass? We think not.
At St Patrick’s Cathedral you will find an abundant supply of lovely souvenirs that are bound to put a smile on the sweet old dear’s face. At the very worst you’re not going to scandalise her. At the same time, you’ll get to visit Ireland’s National Cathedral and also the largest church in the country.
Built between 1197 and 1270, the history of St Patrick’s Cathedral is as colourful and volatile as the story of Catholicism in Ireland. The English Reformation saw the cathedral become dedicated to the Anglican Church of Ireland and later King Edward VI demoted it to the status of a parish church. Cathedral privileges were restored in 1555 but the building still suffered from neglect and disrepair.
It wasn’t until the 1860s that major reconstruction of the cathedral was to occur as it was in imminent danger of collapsing. As no records of the works were preserved, it is now difficult to tell which parts of the cathedral are actually medieval, and which parts were reconstructed in the Victorian period. In 1871 St Patrick’s Cathedral was officially declared as the National Cathedral of Ireland.
From the inside, the cathedral is brimming with all the statues, tombs, tributes, and stained glass that one would expect from such a place. Among them is the grave and epitaph of Jonathan Swift, author of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ and St Patrick’s Cathedral’s most famous Dean.
