Saint Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Baptistery

Jones monument

Carolan memorial

Various statues to important people of the church

Death mask of Jonathan Swift. Author who wrote "Gulliver's Travels".

Irish flag in the cathedral

In honor of the Irish who served during WWI. Every country loves their heroes.

Names of the Knights of The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick statue

Old keys to the church

Alter in cathedral

Part of Saint Stephen's chapel

Lady chapel

Stain glass window. Student told me that blue is the most expensive color.

Tregury tomb

Front alter

I love old penmanship

Main part of the cathedral

It is hard to see, but there are various old flags hanging. Many are so old, they are black and falling apart.

Old, English flags

More old flags

Staircase to organ loft

Old hymn book

Alter

Part of the main chapel

Main chapel

Park outside of cathedral

Yesterday and today I went to Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland.

The church is named after the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick. Patrick was an English boy when he first went to Ireland. His first experience in Ireland was not the best because he came to Ireland as a slave. After a while he got his freedom and returned to England.

He was not meant to stay in England for long. God spoke to Patrick and told him to spread the Word to the Irish. So, Patrick answered the call and journey throughout Ireland converting the Irish.

One of the most famous symbols of Ireland is the clover. It is said that Saint Patrick used the clover to explain to the High King of Ireland the Holy Trinity.

The cathedral is built on the land in which people believe that a well was located in which Patrick baptized people on his visit to Dublin.

The original church was built before 1191, but the present church was built in 1220. The church is the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland.

What I find really interesting is that the cathedral is not Catholic. When I think of a cathedral, I usually think that it is going to be Catholic. And Ireland being predominately Catholic, you would think that this would be a Catholic church. It further confused me when I saw English flags in the cathedral because Ireland and England have always had a complex relationship.

Today, I went to the cathedral with Ros and Geradline. Ros was complaining that he didn't understand why the program brought the students here. He said that the church was a Protestant Church and that all the money goes to England. He then went to the gift shop to make sure that no one bought anything so the money wouldn't go to England. This made me laugh.

The cathedral is beautiful and I did enjoy learning more about the complex relationship between Ireland and England.

I was able to get in for free because I was with the students. If one is to go in by themselves, I believe there is a 9 Euro charge. I don't know if I would recommend people going inside. It is beautiful, but since it is not Catholic and sides with England, it seems to be not very Irish.