AFB
CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION
THURLES, IRELAND
PAUL SCOTT
Thurles is a small town in County Tipperary in Ireland. One of its main features is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption. This is an interesting cathedral, with design loosely based on the cathedral in Pisa, Italy.
I have never been to Thurles, nor set foot in its Cathedral. So this website has only been made possible by the generous contributions of various photographers, and to these I express my gratitude. As is often the case with these websites, I have had problems acknowledging copyright. For some photos, individual links are provided in the text. In other cases, photographs occur in groups for which individually acknowledgement is either difficult or impossible. I wish to particularly acknowledge the contributions of Linas Žalūda [LZ] and Andreas F Borchert [AFB]. Further details about our contributors are given in the Conclusion. If my use of a photograph and its accreditation cause any concern, I am happy to be contacted at paulscott.info@me.com. It is my hope that contributors will be pleased to help provide the enjoyment of a visit to this interesting Cathedral.
A satellite view, plan and brief history of this Cathedral are given below.
The following set of links is provided to help with quick access around the Cathedral. A click / tap on a link will take you to the named destination.
SATELLITE VIEW
The satellite view shows that the front face of the Cathedral is towards Cathedral Street, having from left to right a bell tower, a nave gable and a baptistry. The Cathedral has a standard cruciform shape with covered nave aisles, and a semicircular apse at the sanctuary end. There is a pleasant open space to the east which has public access. There are further open spaces to the north and northwest, but public access appears to be blocked by various buildings. This means that our usual practice of walking around the exterior of a cathedral is not possible here.
The satellite view shows that the axis of this Cathedral is not east-west, but rather about 20° off north-south, with the sanctuary towards the north. It is our custom to use liturgical directions in which we use East (with a capital E) to denote the liturgical direction of the sanctuary, and North, South, West accordingly. This is likely to cause confusion here, so we shall try to avoid using directions for the exterior, but then use liturgical directions for the interior. The advantage of using liturgical directions is that this enables easy navigation and comparison with other cathedrals.
PLAN CP
Shown here is the Cathedral plan in liturgical position! We have added the liturgical tags ‘North’ and ‘South’ to the transepts. In our exploration, we shall begin at the front (West) door at left, and explore in turn the nave, the transepts, and the sanctuary / apse. We shall find that the traditional Sacred Heart Chapel, Lady Chapel and Blessed Sacrament Chapel are respectively located in the North transept, South transept, and Croke Chapel.
HISTORY
Wikipedia
Years Built: 1865 –1879
Address: Cathedral Street, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland
The Cathedral of the Assumption is the mother church of the Metropolitan Province of Cashel and the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly in Thurles, County Tipperary in Ireland. It is the cathedra of the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly and stands on the site of earlier chapels, which were the only Roman Catholic churches in Thurles. Following the English Reformation, many archdiocesan assets, including the cathedral at the Rock of Cashel were appropriated by the established church. James Butler II (1774–91), on being appointed by the Holy See, moved his residence and cathedra from Cashel, favouring Thurles instead, where his successors continue to reign today.
History
Following the appropriation of church assets by the Church of Ireland, the majority population who adhered to Roman Catholicism were obliged to conduct their services elsewhere. From the time of the English Reformation onwards, those archbishops appointed by Rome had to make their throne in whichever house in County Tipperary would hide them from the forces of the Crown. That state of affairs continued until the late 18th century, when some of the harsher provisions of the Penal Laws were relaxed.
In 1857, Archbishop Patrick Leahy revealed his plan to replace the ‘Big Chapel’, which had been used as the parish church in town, with, as Archbishop Bray explained, ‘a cathedral worthy of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly’.
Work commenced in 1865, and the impressive Romanesque Revival architecture building, with its façade modelled on that of Pisa Cathedral, in Italy, was consecrated by Archbishop Thomas Croke on 21 June 1879.
In the Church of Ireland, the historic cathedral on the Rock of Cashel was closed for worship in 1721. A new Georgian cathedral was completed in 1784, St. Peter the Rock Cathedral, Cashel.
Architecture
The architect was J.J McCarthy; Barry McMullen was the main builder. J.C. Ashlin was responsible for the enclosing walls, railings and much of the finished work.
The building has many architectural features, including an impressive rose window, a baptistery, and its most important possession is a tabernacle of Giacomo della Porta, a pupil of Michelangelo.
The tower holds a set of eight bells, cast by John Murphy of Dublin in 1867. Originally intended to be hung for Change ringing, they are now unringable and chimed by hammers. It is thought that the tower is too weak, and the bells are hung too high in the tower, to deal with the forces associated with full-circle ringing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Assumption_Thurles
An excellent historical source of in formation is the pdf document ‘Cathedral of the Assumption Thurles, An Historical Outline’ . This can be accessed at this link. Much of the text on this website is drawn from this document, and is gratefully acknowledged.
