St Laserian’s Cathedral: A Historic Church in Oldleighlin, Ireland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page12 sections
History
St Laserian’s Cathedral is a historic Church of Ireland cathedral in Oldleighlin, Ireland, occupying the site of an important early Christian monastery founded in the early seventh century. Its present stone Gothic building was begun in the twelfth century and developed through the medieval and early modern periods. The cathedral was the seat of the Diocese of Leighlin and remains one of the six cathedral churches of the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory.
The early monastery and the Diocese of Leighlin
The monastery was founded by St Gobhan, an early medieval Irish Christian preacher and monastic founder. After Gobhan left, his brother St Laisrén, also known as St Laserian or Molaisse, directed the community. Laisrén became the first Bishop of Leighlin and died in 639. The monastery was described as accommodating as many as 1,500 monks.
Old Leighlin hosted a synod in 630, when St Laisrén persuaded Irish bishops to replace the Celtic method of calculating Easter with the Roman method. The Celtic calculation was a form of determining the date of Easter used in parts of early medieval western Christianity, while the Roman calculation was later adopted by the Irish church. The monastery’s original buildings were probably made of wood and were destroyed by fire around 1060.
Leighlin was recognized as one of Leinster’s five bishoprics at the Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111. The present cathedral was begun by Donat O’Kelly, Bishop of Leighlin from about 1152 to 1181, on the site of the destroyed monastery. The nave and choir were completed by the end of the thirteenth century.
Medieval and early modern development
The building continued to change after its medieval core was established. A central tower was added in the late fifteenth century, and the transepts and a chapel beside the choir were added or substantially altered during the sixteenth century. These later works are particularly associated with Matthew Sanders, Bishop of Leighlin from 1529 to 1549. The choir was rebuilt in the mid-sixteenth century, and its chancel walls were partly reconstructed.
The cathedral became Anglican after the English Reformation. Its diocesan role changed as Leighlin was joined with Ferns in 1597, with Ossory in 1835, and with Cashel in 1977. It is now part of the Church of Ireland, the Anglican church in Ireland, within the Province of Dublin.
The cathedral’s history also includes the murder of Bishop Doran by an archdeacon. Doran’s grave in front of the altar commemorates the event, and the killer was later hanged. Other burials associated with the cathedral include Thomas O’Fihelly, Bishop of Leighlin, who died in 1567, and Matthew Sanders, who died in 1549. Both are buried beneath the choir, while William O’Byrne, who died in 1569, is buried on the cathedral grounds.
Restoration and continuing use
A pipe organ was installed beneath the tower in 1800 and was later moved to an alcove. Nineteenth-century restoration included the installation or restoration of the timber ceiling over the chancel in 1890. St Laserian’s Cathedral remains an active Church of Ireland church, and the Chapel of the Virgin is undergoing restoration.
Remains
St Laserian’s Cathedral is one of Ireland’s smallest cathedrals. Its stone Gothic form is arranged principally around a simple nave, a central tower, and a choir. The building combines a twelfth- and thirteenth-century core with later fifteenth- and sixteenth-century additions. Its irregular development has produced a notably asymmetrical structure, in which windows and other parts do not consistently correspond from one side to the other.
The nave and central tower
The nave
The nave is about 25 metres long. Its only window is placed above the western entrance, giving the west end a clearly defined architectural feature. The nave forms the principal medieval body of the cathedral and connects with the later central tower and choir.
The central tower
The central tower rises about 18 metres and was added in the late fifteenth century. It is a low, square, crenellated structure with an elaborate ribbed vault. The pipe organ was originally installed beneath it in 1800 before being moved to an alcove.
The choir, chapel, and transepts
The choir and Chapel of the Virgin
The choir is about 18 metres long and was rebuilt in the mid-sixteenth century. Parts of the chancel walls were reconstructed, and a chapel was later added to the north of the chancel. Known as the Chapel of the Virgin, it is disproportionately large in relation to the rest of the cathedral and is undergoing restoration.
The chancel contains a four-bay sedilia, a set of recessed seats beside the altar traditionally used by clergy during worship. The last bay is higher than the others, and the seating is framed by trefoiled heads, a three-lobed decorative form. Dating from the late thirteenth century, this arrangement is an unusual feature in Irish churches.
The transepts
The transepts, projecting arms that cross the main axis of a church, belong to the cathedral’s later development. The south transept was later demolished, while the north transept survives roofless and in ruins.
Other architectural features
A seventeenth-century buttress blocks a thirteenth-century chancel window. Other doorways have been blocked, although their original purpose is uncertain. An underground passage also survives within the cathedral, with its original purpose and direction still uncertain.
One of the cathedral’s two fonts dates from the eleventh century and is probably the oldest item in the church. It was carved from a single piece of marble from County Kilkenny. The east window contains stained glass installed as a memorial by the Vigors family. It was made by Catherine O’Brien, a notable member of An Túr Gloine, an Irish stained-glass studio and artistic movement whose name means Tower of Glass.
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