St Mary’s Cathedral, Tuam: Church of Ireland Cathedral in Ireland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Irish, Norman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page15 sections
History
St Mary’s Cathedral, Tuam, in Ireland, is a Church of Ireland cathedral dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the cathedral of the Diocese of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe in the Province of Dublin. The present building was constructed in the nineteenth century in the Irish pointed style, while its history reaches back to an early Christian foundation and the twelfth-century development of Tuam as an archiepiscopal seat.
Early Christian Tuam
St Jarlath, an early Christian saint and bishop, is traditionally regarded as the founder and first bishop of Tuam. He established a church here about 501, and his death is traditionally dated to 540. Only two other bishops of Tuam are recorded before the eleventh century: Ferdomnach, who died in 781, and Eugene mac Clerig, who died in 969.
Tuam gained greater medieval importance in the early eleventh century, when it became the seat of the O’Connor high kings of Ireland. The O’Connors were a powerful medieval Irish ruling dynasty, and before their move to Tuam they had been based at Cruachain in County Roscommon.
The first cathedral and archbishopric
The first cathedral on the present site was begun in the twelfth century during the reign of Turlough O’Connor, high king of Ireland. Its construction followed the Synod of Kells in 1152, an important Irish church assembly whose decisions helped reorganize the church into dioceses and archbishoprics. The new cathedral marked Tuam’s establishment as an archiepiscopal seat.
Turlough O’Connor also erected the High Cross of Tuam to mark the completion of the first cathedral and the establishment of the archbishopric. The cathedral’s first building was destroyed by fire in 1184, when its roof and stonework collapsed. Apart from a small thirteenth-century parish church built on the site of an older monastery, no major rebuilding was attempted for about a century. The delay was connected largely with the Norman invasion of Ireland, which left Tuam in ruins.
The medieval and Reformation periods
A second St Mary’s Cathedral was begun in the fourteenth century by the de Burgo family, slightly east of the first cathedral. During the Reformation, William Mallaly was appointed by Queen Elizabeth as the first Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam, replacing the Roman Catholic clergy. From the twelfth century until 1839, both before and after the Reformation, Tuam remained the seat of the former Archdiocese of Tuam.
In 1839, the creation of the Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry consolidated the former archdiocesan organization. This reorganization helped provide funds for rebuilding the cathedral and formed part of the institutional setting in which the present building was created.
The nineteenth-century cathedral
The railway reached Tuam in 1861, and the enlargement of the garrison increased the town’s Anglican population. These changes prompted the construction of a third cathedral. Designed by Sir Thomas Newenham Deane, it was begun around 1861 and completed in 1878, while Charles James Seymour served as dean during the rebuilding.
The present cathedral was built on the site of the first cathedral and incorporated its surviving medieval chancel arch. The fourteenth-century de Burgo cathedral was retained as the Diocesan Synod Hall, Library, and Registry. The third cathedral was consecrated on 9 October 1878, when Robert Gregg, Bishop of Cork, preached at the ceremony.
Later care and adaptation
Major renovations took place between 1985 and 1993. A new central-heating system was installed in September 2000. These interventions formed the later phase in the continuing use and care of a cathedral that combines nineteenth-century construction with fabric and objects from earlier buildings and periods.
Remains
St Mary’s Cathedral is built in the Irish pointed style and measures approximately 46 metres in length and 23 metres across the transepts, the cross-arms extending from the church’s main axis. Its surviving fabric brings together the nineteenth-century cathedral, part of the fourteenth-century building, and important twelfth-century monuments and architectural elements.
Medieval architectural remains
The Hiberno-Romanesque chancel arch
The twelfth-century chancel, or triumphal, arch is the surviving remnant of the first cathedral and an outstanding example of Hiberno-Romanesque, the distinctive medieval Irish form of Romanesque architecture. Built from red sandstone, the rounded arch has no keystone. Its supporting columns incline slightly inward, so that their bases are wider than their capitals. The arch measures 6.85 metres across at its base and 4.88 metres in height.
Six consecutive semicircular arches create the structure, whose stonework is elaborately ornamented. Except for the outer column on each side, the columns are semicircular and undecorated. Their capitals carry richly carved interlaced tracery, while grotesque faces appear on the jambs. For more than 500 years, a stone-and-wooden structure containing a central doorway blocked the arch. Despite exposure to the elements during that period, it remains remarkably well preserved. The arch later served as the entrance to the fourteenth-century cathedral and became the chancel of the present cathedral in the nineteenth century.
The fourteenth-century cathedral
A substantial part of the fourteenth-century cathedral survives within the cathedral complex. The building, begun by the de Burgo family slightly east of the first cathedral, now serves as the Diocesan Synod Hall, Library, and Registry. Its continued use preserves a separate medieval structure alongside the present cathedral.
Crosses and carved stone
In the south aisle, the ornamented shaft of another high cross dating from the late twelfth century survives. The High Cross of Tuam is a monumental Irish stone cross associated with Turlough O’Connor’s completion of the first cathedral and creation of the archbishopric. It was moved to its present position in 1992. A portion of an ancient Irish cross is also located at the south-west end of the cathedral.
Interior furnishings and fittings
Sanctuary and seating
The oak reredos, an ornamental screen or backdrop behind an altar, came from St Columb’s Cathedral Church in Derry. The sanctuary floor was quarried at Merlin Quarries in Galway. The bishop’s throne, pulpit, font, and chapter stalls were made from Caen stone and Irish marble.
The choir stalls are Italian Baroque and date from about 1740. The stalls in the Synod Hall are reputed to have come from a monastery in Piedmont. Edward Joshua Cooper of Markree Castle brought them to Ireland, and they were later presented to St Mary’s Cathedral.
Organ and stained glass
The original organ was donated by Archbishop Josiah Hort in 1742 and has since been rebuilt. The west window, dating from 1913, depicts the Transfiguration of the Lord. Other stained-glass windows portray Moses, David, Solomon, Ezra, Malachi, and John the Baptist. A window depicting Christ the King was installed in memory of the architect Sir Thomas Newenham Deane.
Communion silver
The cathedral’s communion silver consists of six pieces. Four date from before 1700, while inscriptions on two indicate a later date. The earliest pair belongs to the archbishopric of Samuel Pullen, around 1660 to 1666. It comprises a chalice measuring 10 inches high and 5 inches in diameter, and a scratched paten, a plate used with a chalice during Holy Communion, measuring 7.5 inches in diameter. Neither piece is hallmarked.
A second chalice and paten bear the inscription “Ecclesiae Cathedralis Stae Mariae Tuamensis 1678” and date from the archbishopric of John Vesey. The chalice is 10 inches high and 5.5 inches in diameter, while the paten is 7.5 inches in diameter; the set also includes a chalice cover, and both pieces are hallmarked.
Two hallmarked flagons, large vessels for holding communion wine, bear an inscription naming Thomas Vesey, Bishop of Laon and formerly Archdeacon of Tuam. Each measures 10 inches high and 7 inches in diameter. One remains in good condition, while the other is somewhat damaged.
