AT A GLANCE
Why go?
St Patrick's Cathedral is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland and the largest cathedral in the country. Standing on the site where Saint Patrick is said to have baptised converts over 1,500 years ago, the present Gothic building dates from the 1220s and has been at the heart of Dublin's story ever since. Today it draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year with its soaring nave, centuries of layered history, and a living tradition of choral music that stretches back to 1432.↗↗↗
A Building That Tells Ireland's Story
The Cathedral's own description calls its story "a microcosm of the story of Ireland," and that is no exaggeration. Archbishop Luke oversaw construction of the cruciform Gothic building between 1220 and 1259, using local limestone and imported stone from Bristol. He was blind by the time the work was completed and never saw his creation finished. The design is believed to have been inspired by Old Sarum Cathedral near Salisbury in England.↗
Over the following seven centuries, the building weathered storms that toppled its spire, accidental fires, political upheaval during the Reformation when it was briefly demoted to a parish church and even used as a courthouse, and the collapse of the tower known as Minot's Tower in 1394. Each episode left its mark on the structure, making the Cathedral a living palimpsest of Irish history.