Kildare Cathedral: A Restored Norman Cathedral in Ireland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- Norman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page11 sections
History
Kildare Cathedral is a restored Norman cathedral in Ireland, dedicated to St Brigid and dating in its present form from 1223. Built in an early Irish Gothic style, it occupies a site associated first with the goddess Brigid and later with the Christian saint traditionally linked to Kildare.
Brigid’s Foundation and the Double Community
Tradition places the foundation of the abbey around AD 480, when Brigid is said to have come to Kildare with her nuns. The earliest church may have been a simple wooden building. After Brigid’s death in AD 523, an expensive shrine was erected within a larger structure. For centuries, Kildare maintained a double religious community of women and men. An abbess governed the community, and the bishop was subordinate to her in jurisdiction.
A firehouse, or fire-temple, associated with St Brigid was also maintained at Kildare from the pre-Christian period. It may have survived until the reign of Henry VIII in the sixteenth century, when monasteries were destroyed during the Reformation.
Medieval Destruction and Norman Rebuilding
Between 835 and 998, the cathedral was devastated approximately sixteen times. By the time the Norman Ralph of Bristol became bishop of Kildare in 1222, the building was virtually in ruins. It was largely rebuilt between 1223 and 1230, probably under Ralph’s direction. He died in 1232.
Decline and Reformation
The cathedral remained partly ruinous by about 1500 and had become derelict by 1649. Its decline followed the English Reformation, when the institutional church in Ireland separated from Roman Catholic authority and the site passed to the Church of Ireland. The building was also damaged or ruined during the Irish Confederate Wars, conflicts in the 1640s that contributed to the destruction of many Irish buildings. It was partially rebuilt in 1686.
Nineteenth-Century Restoration and Later Care
George Edmund Street, an English architect associated with the Gothic Revival, began a near-complete restoration in 1875. Work continued after his death in 1881 and was completed in 1896. The project added a north transept, chancel, and west wall, rebuilt three sides of the square tower, and provided a new oak roof. Later restoration for the cathedral’s centenary included new internal porches, repairs to the internal and external stonework, and rebuilding of the organ.
Kildare Cathedral remains an active Church of Ireland cathedral and is one of two cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Meath and Kildare. The dioceses were merged in 1976, and the cathedral is within the ecclesiastical Province of Dublin. The site is designated a National Monument and remains in the care of the Church of Ireland.
Remains
The surviving cathedral is a cruciform, aisleless building of restored Norman design. Its early Irish Gothic character is expressed through pointed lancet windows, stepped parapets, and a massive square central tower. Granite and sandstone are used in its construction, while the cathedral grounds also contain an Irish round tower and a Celtic cross.
Cathedral Exterior
Single and paired lancet windows pierce the walls, while each of the four gables has a group of three lancets. Arches span from buttress to buttress in front of the side walls. The stepped parapets follow an Irish form and, although much restored, are probably datable to about 1395. Their possible date has been associated with a papal relaxation granted to people who gave alms for the conservation of the church.
Central Tower and Grounds
The central tower is relatively low, square, and crenellated. Its defensive design reflects the unsettled conditions of the early Norman period. In the cathedral grounds, the round tower rises about 32 metres, or 105 feet, and stands with a Celtic cross.
Interior Architecture
The interior treatment is plain. Window splays are unmoulded, while the moulded rear arches spring from shafts with moulded capitals. These shafts are short and finish in small curved tails. The high-altar area contains reproductions of medieval originals. A pulpit made from Caen stone is carved with the Four Evangelists and supported by columns of Irish marble.
Memorials and Carved Stone
An altar-tomb effigy commemorates Bishop Walter Wellesley, who died in 1539. The monument is an example of sixteenth-century sculpture, and related bas-reliefs form part of a wider group in the cathedral that ranges from the early Christian period to the seventeenth century. A Sheelagh-na-gig, a carved nude female figure often associated with fertility or protection, is also preserved inside the cathedral, an unusual feature in a cathedral interior.
Furnishings, Windows, and Organ
The choir and chapter stalls are made of solid oak and carved with acorns and oak leaves. The interior also contains a bishop’s throne and a Lady Chapel. A medieval stone baptismal font survives in the cathedral, although it is not original to the building. The west window is dedicated to St Patrick, St Brigid, and St Columba, while a stained-glass window depicting St Luke was made by Gerda Schurmann in 1974. The organ was built by Conacher in 1898.
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