Places to go > County Down > Down Cathedral < Churches < Things to do

Churches & Cathedrals: Down Cathedral, N. Ireland St Columb's Cathedral, N. Ireland St David's Cathedral, Wales St Giles Cathedral, Scotland St Patrick's C. of I. Cathedral, N. Ire. St Patrick's R. C. Cathedral, N. Ire. ................................................. _________________________________

County Down attractions: Castle Ward Down Cathedral Down County Museum Dundrum Castle Exploris Aquarium Giant's Ring Grey Abbey Inch Abbey Legananny Dolmen Mount Stewart House & Gardens Nendrum Monastic Site North Down Heritage Centre Ulster Folk & Transport Museum ................................................. _________________________________

Down Cathedral Downpatrick, Co. Down, BT30 6AB, UK. Tel. +44 (0) 28 4461 4922

Down Cathedral stands on Cathedral Hill, overlooking the town of Downpatrick in County Down.

One of the earliest places to be associated with Christian worship in Ireland, the site is reputed to be the burial place of St Patrick, and the history of the cathedral has been turbulent. The earliest Celtic monastery was plundered by Vikings and burned by lightning. In 1177 the Augustinian monastery that existed was replaced by the Norman conqueror John de Courcy with a Benedictine Abbey, which was subsequently raided, badly damaged by an earthquake in the 13th century, and then burned by Edward Bruce in 1315. It was rebuilt but destroyed by Lord Leonard Grey in the 16th century.

After the Dissolution the cathedral lay in ruins until it was restored at the end of the 18th century, and most of the present building dates from around this time. Fragments of early Christian stonework are preserved inside the cathedral, along with a magnificent 19th century organ, while the private box-pews are the only ones of their kind remaining in use in Ireland today. A high cross dating from the 9th or 10th century stands in the cathedral grounds, and there is also a large granite stone commemorating the grave of St Patrick, which was put there in 1900.

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Churches and Cathedrals in our Church building section:

Down Cathedral
St Columb's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral
St Giles Cathedral
St Patrick's Church of Ireland
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Ireland

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