41. CATHEDRA CP
On the right side of the sanctuary stands the cathedra, or episcopal chair, signifying that this is ‘the bishop’s church’, or the principal church of the diocese. This chair is carved in oak by Beakey of Dublin to a design by George Ashlin. On the upper part we find the archbishop’s coat of arms: it contains a shield with two crossed keys standing for the Archbishop of Cashel. Above the shield are the mitre and double-barred cross of an archbishop. The carved columns flanking the seat name the archbishops from the mid-sixteenth century down to Dr Croke who commissioned the throne.
The apse ceiling is similar in design to the nave ceiling, but with dominant colour light blue rather than red. A large central emblem shows the figure of Christ surrounded by a circle of medallions. INDEX
43. CHOIR Z
Towards the Eastern end of the apse is a special tabernacle which we shall look at shortly. A sanctuary light hangs above it, and we note the little angels between the tops of the rounded arches. Around the top of the arcade are the words (in Latin) of the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostum: ‘O Holy God, Who is resting among the holy ones, praised by the Seraphim with the thrice-holy voice, glorified by the Cherubim, and Seraphim cry with unceasing voice: Holy,. Holy, Holy: Lord God ... . [Photo Credit: Zairon]
45. AMBULATORY WINDOWS II AFB x4
... , St Thomas, St Andrew, St Peter, St Mary, ...
46. AMBULATORY WINDOWS III AFB x4
... , Jesus Christ as Salvador Mundi – a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that depicts Christ as the Saviour of the World, St Mary Magdalene, St John the Apostle, St James the Greater, ...
47. AMBULATORY WINDOWS IV AFB x4
... , St Philip, St James the Less, St Paul, St Thaddeus, ...
48. AMBULARTORY WINDOWS V AFB x5
... , St Anne, St Thomas Aquinas, St Albertus Magnus, St Patrick, St Brigid. All these windows were manufactures by Wailes of Newcastle.
49. TABERNACLE PC AFB
The Cathedral’s most prized possession is this tabernacle, which was rescued from the head church, the Gesù, of the Jesuit Fathers in Rome. It was believed to be the work of Andrea Pozzo, but later determined to originate before 1599 and to be the work of Giacomo della Porta, who had worked with Michelangelo at St Peter’s in the Vatican. It is made from giallo antico, rosso antico, africano – beautiful antique marbles. The door is bronze with a silver host bearing the letters I.H.S. The two front pillars are Galway marble. [Photo1 Credit: Patrick Comerford]
Giorgos Vernadakis
CONCLUSION GSV
I hope you have enjoyed visiting Thurles Cathedral with me. Ireland is full of surprises!
As mentioned in the Index, this website draws heavily on the contributions of others.
The photos labelled [CP] (Cathedral Photos), and much of the text comes from the excellent file ‘Cathedral of the Assumption Thurles, An Historical Outline’.
As mentioned earlier, there are two major photo contributors to this site. One is Linas Žalūda [LZ] who has produced a ‘photo sphere’ of the inside of the Cathedral with excellent resolution. I have taken various appropriate screen shots from his work for this site. The photo sphere can be found here. The other major contributor is Andreas F. Borchert [AFB] whose photos are all in the public domain. All the excellent window photos are by him and can be found at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stained-glass_windows_of_Thurles_Cathedral
Other photos by him can be found in the Wikimedia Commons site
Photographs from Google Street View are labelled [GSV], and are accredited with a name where that is given. These can be found here.
A number of individual photos are accredited by a link in the text.
As expressed earlier, I am grateful to all whose work appears here, and am happy to hear from anyone with queries about use or accreditation of photos.
And finally I express my gratitude to my wife Margaret for her work in proof-reading the text.
Thurles Cathedral has its own website:
https://cashel-emly.ie/church/thurles/cathedral-of-the-assumption/
Site created 01 / 2025
Paul Scott