Cathedrals and Parish-churches.

**

APPENDIX.**

Of the Cathedral, Parish-Churches, &c. **

SECT. I.**

Of the cathedral of Christ-church or the blessed Trinity.

Sitricus, the son of Amlave, king of the Ostmen of Dublin, and Donat, bishop of Dublin, built this church for secular canons, in the middle of the city, about the year 1038. But Laurence O’Toole archbishop of Dublin, changed these secular canons into canons regular of the order of Arras about the year 1163.

In the black-book we meet with the following passage concerning the foundation of it.

“Sitricus king of Dublin, son of Ableb earl of Dublin, gave to the blessed Trinty, and to Donat (there called first bishop of Dublin) a place on which to build a church of the blessed Trinity, where the arches or vaults were founded, with the following lands *viz. *Beal-duleck, Rachen, Portrahern, with their villains and cows and corn; he also contributed gold and silver enough wherewith to build the church, and the whole court thereof.”

After the church was finished, Donat built an episcopal palace near it, in the place where the deanry house formerly stood (which is now the site of the four courts, in which all the judges of the kingdom fit for the administration of justice. There is extant among the archives of this church, a remarkable inquisition, taken in the 6th year of king, Richard II an.** **1383, which seems to controvert the foregoing account of this foundation; by which it appears, “That it was foundeth and endowed by divers Irish men, whose names are unknown in time out of mind, and long before the conquest of Irelande.” But as the Ostmen had been in possession of Dublin and other parts of Ireland, some centuries before the conquest; so Sitricus and Donat may well pass for Irish men in the stile of this inquisition, though born of Ostmen families.

Donat built also St. Michael’s chapel which his successor, Richard Talbot, some ages after converted into a parochial church. He also, besides the nave and wings of the cathedral, erected from the foundation the chapel of St. Nicholas on, the north side of the church.

Laurence, archbishop of Dublin, Richard, surnamed Strongbow, earl of Strigul, Robert Fitz-Stephens, and Reymond le Gross, undertook to enlarge this church, and at their own charges built the choir, the steeple, and two chapels; one dedicated to St. Edmond King and Martyr, and to St. Mary called the White, arid the other to St. Laud.

We find also another chapel (Archives of Christ-church) in this church, in the south aile adjoining to the choir, first dedicated to the Holy Ghost, but afterwards to archbishop Laurence after his canonization, and called St. Laurence O-Tool’s chapel. The prior and convent of this church had antiently a cell (Lib. Nig. p. 15.) of three canons in the diocese of Armagh, endowed with the churches of St. Mary of Drumfalan (where they had their residence, and served the cure) and of Philipston-Nugent, with the chapels annexed, viz. Drummorcher and** **Hechmachnyne, of the gift of Philip Nnugent, the true patron, together with a wood and two carucates of land, a little before the year 1248.

But Albert, archbishop of Armagh, desiring to reform the state of religion, and considering how distant this cell stood from Christ-church, with the consent of the patron suppressed the said cell; grounding himself upon an epistle of St, Bernard, who calls these small cells, wherein three or four friers lived without order or discipline. the cells of Satan.

The three next immediate successors of the said archbishop, are reckoned also among the principal benefactors of this cathedral, *i. e. *John Comyn, Henry Loundres, and Luke. Nor ought it to be passed over unobserved, that John de St. Paul, archbishop of this fee, a little before his death, built at his own charge the whole chancell, together with the archiepiscopal throne, such as it was in the year 1658.

In 1541, while archbishop Brown was in the possession of this fee, King Henry VIII. converted and changed (as the charter sayeth) the prior and convent of the cathedral of the Holy Trinity into a dean and chapter. This new foundation consisted of a dean, chantor, chancellor, treasurer, and six vicars-choral. Robert Castle, alias Painswick, the last prior, was made the first dean of it. The king confirmed to them their antient estates and immunities.

Archbishop Brown, anno 1544,** **erected three prebends in this church, viz. St. Michael’s, St. Michan’s and St. John’s, (from the time of these alterations, it hath generally bore the name of Christ-church, being before called the church of the blessed Trinity.) King Edward VI. afterwards added six priests, and two choristers or singing boys, to whom he assigned an annual pension .of 45 l. 6s. 8d. English money, payable out of the exchequer, during pleasure. Queen Mary confirmed. this pension, and granted it in perpetuity.

In this foundation, thus augmented, king James I. made some alterations, so that now there are in this church a dean, chantor, chancellor, treasurer, and three prebendaries, (viz. St. John’s, St. Michael’s and St. Michan’s) besides six vicars-choral and four choristers. He also ordained, that the archdeacon of Dublin should have a stall in the choir, and a voice and seat in the chapter in all capitular acts relating to the said church. It should have been mentioned before that the prior of this church, while it continued a regular community, had a seat* *and suffrage in parliament among the spiritual peers. **

Sect. II.**

Of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Where the cathedral of St. Patrick’s is erected, John Comyn, archbishop of Dublin, demolished an old parochial church which stood in that place (and was said to have been founded by St. Patrick) and in the room of it built and endowed this fair building, dedicated to that saint, in the south suburbs of the city, about the year 1190; in which he placed 13 prebendaries, which number in after times was increased to 22, of whom three were added by archbishop Ferings.

Henry Loundres, or the Londoner, archbishop Comyn’s next successor, created this church, which was collegiate in it’s first constitution, into a cathedral; “United (says John Alan (Alan’s Register), who was archbishop of Dublin in the reign of king Henry VIII.) with the cathedral of the Holy Trinity in one spouse, saving to the other church the prerogative of honour.”

He constituted William Fitz-Guy the first dean of it, and appointed a chantor, chancellor and treasurer, to whom he allotted lands and rectories (and made them conformable to the rules of the church of Sarum; so that now the chapter of this church is constituted of 26 members, viz. The dean, chantor, chancellor, treasurer, archdeacon of Dublin, archdeacon of Glandelogh, prebendaries of Cullen, Kilmatalway, Swords, Yago, St. Owens, Clonmethan, Tymothan, Castleknock, Malahithart, Tipper, Monmahanock, Howth, Rathmichael, Wicklow, Maynooth, Tassagard, Dunlavan, Tipperkevin, Dnooghmore in Omayl, and Stagonyl. Of which number the prebend of Cullen is united to the archbishoprick, and the revenues of the prebend of Tymothan were swallowed up, and became lay see in the time of archbishop Loftus, the title still continuing.

Fulk de Saundford, one of the successors of archbishop Loundres, is said to have built a chapel in this church dedicated to the blessed Virgin; it is also said that he was in the year 1271 buried in it, and his statue set over his monument. Yet ‘tis thought by some that this chapel was erected long before his days. In latter times it hath been set apart to the French protestants, under the yearly acknowledgement of 12 pence, who exercise in it divine service according to the rites established in the church of Ireland.

Thomas Minot, archbishop of Dublin, re-built part of the cathedral which had been destroyed by an accidental fire (In an** **antient registry of St. Patrick’s church, commencing an. 1367, formerly in the custody of dean Culm, this note as found - After the burning of St. Patrick’s church, sixty stragling and idle fellows were taken up, and obliged to assist in repairing the church and building the steeple; who when the work was over, returned to their old trade of begging, but were banished out of the diocese in 1376 by Robert de Wikeford (successor to Minot) Their names are inserted in ie’regifiry at large). He also built a high steeple of squared stone about the year 1370; and from hence took occasion to use in his seal the device of a bishop holding a steeple in his hand; and by a legacy bequeathed by the reverend doctor Sterne late bishop of Clogher, a lofty spire was erected on the steeple in 1750. Richard Talbot instituted six petty canons and as many choristers in this church. And thus much concerning it, of which if we either consider the compass, or the beauty and magnificence of the structure, it is without scruple to be preferred before all the cathedrals in Ireland.

There are also in this city eighteen parish churches, some of which are elegant structures, besides two chapels of (St. George’s and St. Kevin’s.) ease.

The names of the parish churches are as follow:

St. Andrew’s,

St. Anne’s,

St. Audeon’s,

St. Bridget’s, (This is now re-building [1765] in a most elegant manner with a fine front of hewn stone)

St. Catherine’s,

St. James’s,

(Thrown down this year [1765] to be re-built) St. John’s,

St. Luke’s,

St. Mark’s,

St. Mary’s,

St. Michael’s,

St. Michan’s,

St. Nicholas within,

St. Nicholas without,

St. Paul’s,

St. Peter’s,

(Lately built, the inside finished in a most masterly manner) St. Thomas’s.

St. Werburgh’s,

There are besides six private chapels where the service of the established church is regularly attended, viz. at Trinity-college, the Castle, Blue-coat-hospital, Royal-hospital, Work-house, Steevens’s-hospital and Lying-in-hospital, besides three churches for French and one for Dutch protestants, seven meeting-houses for protestant dissenters, two for quakers, one for methodists, one for anabaptists, one for Moravians, and 16 Roman catholick chapels.

To Appendix II. Harris Contents.