Saint Munchin’s, the fourth ‘cathedral’ in Limerick?

Saint Munchin’s Church stands on the site of a church said to have been built as Limerick’s first cathedral in 561 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

According to a recent illustrated history of the Church of Ireland, edited by Claude Costecalde and Brian Walker, ‘it is said there are three cathedrals in Limerick – St Mary’s, St John’s and Thomond Park (home of Munster rugby).’

Perhaps it could be said that Limerick has four cathedrals, for tradition says Saint Munchin’s Church, a former Church of Ireland parish church on King’s Island, looking across the estuary of the River Shannon, stands on the site of the first cathedral of the Diocese of Limerick, built in 561 AD by the patron saint of the diocese.

Saint Munchin’s is one of the five original parishes in Limerick City, the others being Saint John’s, Saint Michael’s, Saint Mary’s and Saint Patrick’s. As a civil parish, Saint Munchin’s Parish lies partly in geographical Co Clare and partly in Co Limerick, including the city centre of Limerick. The parish is divided into two parts by the intervening parishes of Saint Nicholas and Killeely.

The part of the city on King’s Island is mostly in the parish. Saint Munchin’s Church is located on Church Street, between the Bishop’s Palace and Villiers Almshouses, on the banks of the River Shannon, overlooking the river and across to the Treaty Stone.

The church takes its name from Saint Munchin, traditionally listed as the first Bishop of Limerick, and according to tradition the first church on this site was the first cathedral of the diocese of Limerick.

Saint Munchin’s feast day is celebrated on 2 January (or 3 January), and he is said he lived in the late sixth or the seventh century. If the dates are consing, so too are the stories about the saint, and the legendary accounts give different versions of his background.

The first legend says Saint Munchin was the nephew of a King of Thomond who was also a disciple of Saint Patrick. Another legend says Saint Munchin was one of Sétna’s three sons who came from Co Clare. It is also said that Saint Munchin’s brother Ainlid was a local ruler in the late seventh century.

The most popular legend about Saint Munchin tells of the building of his first church in Limerick. While the workers were building the church, Munchin asked for the help of some local people whom were passing by. They refused to help, and Munchin placed a curse on them, praying they would be unsuccessful and unfortunate in life. He then appealed to some strangers who were passing, who readily gave their assistance. Saint Munchin appreciated their kindness and prayed they would always prosper.

The poet Michael Hogan wrote a poem in detail about the happenings, The Curse of Saint Munchin (1868).

Saint Munchin’s Church stands above the banks of the River Shannoln, close to King John’s Castle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017; click on image for full-screen view)

The original church of Saint Munchin’s is said to have been built in 561, and to have once been the cathedral of the diocese of Limerick. As the first Bishop of Limerick, Saint Munchin is supposed to have been buried in the churchyard.

The legends say that Saint Munchin’s father Sétna belonged to the Dál Cais, and give him a pedigree linking him to the ancestors of the O’Brien dynasty. Mainchín is said to have founded Limerick when Ferdomnach, King of the Dál Cais, granted him land at Inis Sibtond, an island on the River Shannon.

However, there are major problems with the legends. The Dál Cais are unknown before the 930s, having migrated from the Deise area in what is now Co Waterford. population which migrated into the region at an uncertain period.

It has been argued that Munchin’s appearance in Limerick is actually due to his adoption by the later Norse there.

In fact, no successors of Munchin as Bishop of Limerick are known before the 12th century, and his existence cannot be verified before then. The church may have been a Viking foundation. The first recorded Bishop of Limerick is Gilli, also known as Gilla Espaic, of Gilbert. He was consecrated ca 1106, probably by Anselm of Canterbury at Rouen. He was the Papal Legate at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, when the Diocese of Limerick was recognised as one of the 24 dioceses in Ireland. He resigned in 1140, and died in 1145.

Surviving tiles in Munchin’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

According to some traditions, Saint Munchin’s Church was burned by the Danes. A later, single-cell mediaeval church stood on the site for centuries.

When the present Church of Ireland church was built in 1827 near the site of the old church, a layer of ashes was found under the foundation of the old church, which may confirm the story of the earlier burning.

The latest church on this site was designed in the Gothic style by the brothers George Richard Pain and James Pain (1779-1877). The Pain brothers collaborated on many works and were commissioned by the Board of First Fruits to design churches and glebehouses in Ireland. In 1833, James Pain was appointed one of the four principal architects of the Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners. He lived in Limerick for much of his life.

The Ascension … a surviving part of the East Window in Saint Munchin’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

The church is primarily built with limestone and it follows a Perpendicular Gothic style. Saint Munchin’s is a well-proportioned Board of the First Fruits Church. It is a four-bay church, with a square-plan tower to the west elevation, and an entrance porch at the north-east corner. There is an artificial slate roof to the church and a pitched slate roof to the porch. The four pinnacles at the top of the tower provide this church a distinguished aspect.

Until the 19th century, the church still had an episcopal throne, reflecting or feeding the legends that this was the site of the first cathedral in Limerick.

The graveyard has been in use for hundreds of years and there are many grave markers and table-tombs from the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a special plaque to commemorate three Norwegian children buried there in the 19th century. They had been passengers on an emigrant ship that had stopped in Limerick for repairs. The significant architectural quality of the many mausoleums in the churchyard and their good condition add to the interest of this site.

The church was deconsecrated in 1968, at a time when many Church of Ireland churches were being closed and dioceses were being amalgamated. Saint Munchin’s had fallen into disrepair over two decades when it was renovated by the Limerick Civic Trust in 1988-1989.

The church was used for a period by the Island Theatre Company until 2008, and later the University of Limerick architecture school held occasional exhibitions of students work here.

Major renovation work continues in the church and the churchyard. More recently, the towers of the church have been used by beekeepers to house beehives and help pollinate the city’s flowers and trees.

The church stands on an outcrop overlooking the Shannon River to the west and Villiers Almshouses to the north. It is enclosed by rubble limestone walls with square-plan piers and wrought-iron gates.

Some surviving monuments in Saint Munchin’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Saint John’s Cathedral: the tallest building in Limerick has the tallest spire in Ireland

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist … the tallest building in Limerick and the tallest spire in Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

Since coming to this diocese, I have made myself familiar with and comfortable in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. But this week for the first time I visited Saint John’s Cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral in Limerick.

The cathedral was designed by the architect Philip Charles Hardwick, it has been in continuous use since it was built in 1861. It replaced a chapel founded in 1753, and stands across the street from Saint John’s Church, once the Church of Ireland parish church in this part of Limerick.

Saint John’s Cathedral is the tallest building in Limerick and is reputed to have tallest spire in Ireland, at 94 metres.

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was built in 1856-1861, replacing an earlier chapel dating back to 1753. William Hill, a Quaker, bought the site of the present cathedral in 1796 and the land was kept in trust. The. The originally plan was to build a plain church for parish to replace the old chapel built in 1753, but because of the generous response to an appeal for funds, Bishop John Ryan (1828-1864) decided to designate the new church as the cathedral of his diocese.

Bishop Ryan had already visited cathedrals in England and continental Europe in search of ideas for a new cathedral in Limerick. He commissioned the London-based architect Philip Charles Hardwick (1822-1892), who was then working on Adare Manor, to design a new cathedral in Limerick in the Gothic Revival style.

Hardwick was a member of an important English architectural dynasty that included his father Philip Hardwick (1792-1870) and grandfather (1752-1825). His mother was born into another eminent architectural family, the Shaws.

Philip Charles Hardwick became the leading architect of banking offices in London, including Drummond’s in Trafalgar Square (1879-1881), and was the architect to the Bank of England (1855-1883). His best-known work, the Great Hall of Euston Station, London (1849), was demolished in 1962. His other works included the restoration of Saint Mary’s Church, Lambeth (1851-1852), now the Museum of Garden History and in the news last month with the discovery of the long-lost coffins of three bishops. http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2017/04/missing-coffin-of-former-bishop-of.html

At the time Bishop Ryan was thinking of building a new cathedral in Limerick, Harwick was working on Adare Manor for the Earl of Dunraven and on the restoration of an old abbey church as the Roman Catholic parish church in Adare.

Inside Saint John’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Hardwick’s new cathedral was built in the Gothic Revival style in the Early English phase. His designed was influenced by Salisbury Cathedral, although the tower and spire are central in Salisbury and the size, detail and ornamentations of Salisbury are on a different scale, and Hardwicke’s cathedral in Limerick resembles Pugin’s designs for Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Killarney.

The foundation stone was laid on 1 May 1856, and the first Mass in the cathedral was celebrated by Father William Bourke, parish priest during the building project, on 7 March 1859. He died a few weeks later and was buried in the new cathedral.

The cathedral was opened for public worship on 25 July 1861, although it was not completed at the time. Work stopped on the tower in 1862, and it was left incomplete and the interior still had to be decorated as well as the three side chapels.

The builders were Wallace & Sons, and the cathedral was built with blue Limerick limestone of Limerick marble. Limerick marble is very different from the Italian marble found in many churches. Limerick marble was stone quarried in Co Clare, and it was used for the buildings in the Englishtown part of Limerick city in the 17th century.

The cathedral measures 51 metres by 36 at the transepts. The internal height of the nave is 24 metres and it has five bays and a clerestory.

Saint John’s Cathedral has the highest spire in Ireland at 94 metres from the base of the tower to the top of the cross. The tower, which was completed in 1878-1882 by Maurice Hennessy, is taller than Hardwicke had intended, and tapers into a spire at 163 feet high.

An iron cross was placed on the top of the spire on 27 September 1882. However, three days later the cross fell in a storm three days later. Little damage was caused, however, and a new cross was placed on the spire in August 1883, and a lighting conductor was also placed on top of the spire in 1883. The cathedral bell, weighing 1½ tons, was cast in Dublin in 1883 and was transported by canal barge to Limerick.

The cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Edward O’Dwyer on 21 June 1894 and it officially became a cathedral on 7 January 1912 in a decree in which Pope Pius X also restored the cathedral chapter.

A new copper roof was put on the cathedral during renovations in the early 1950s. Further renovations were carried out on the sanctuary in the cathedral during the late 1970s and again in 2003.

A statue of Saint John the Baptist stands above the main door. Inside, the stained-glass window behind the high altar dates from 1867 and illustrates the newly-promulgated dogma of the Immaculate Conception, surrounded by images of Christ, Pope Pius IX and Bishop John Ryan who built the cathedral.

The north transept window in Saint John’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

The windows in the north and south transepts and some of the side chapels have glass by Meyer of Munich.

The large stained-glass window in the north transept depicts scenes from the life of Christ. The centrepiece of the window shows the Transfiguration, with Christ surrounded by Moses and Elijah, and the Apostles Peter, James and John. Above this are Christ and Mary Magdalene, while at the bottom of the panel is Christ teaching the Disciples. To the left, the window shows Christ and Saint Peter above, and the wedding at Cana beneath. Further left, it depicts Christ with the Centurion, the miracle of the loaves and fishes and the temptation in the desert. To the right, the window depicts Christ with the little Children above and the raising of Jairus’ daughter below. To the right of this is the calming of the seas, the Sermon on the Mount and the raising of Lazarus.

The aumbry with the former canopy and back of the cathedra, carved from Riga oak in Munich in 1894 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

To the left of the high altar, the former Blessed Sacrament Chapel has a stained-glass window of the Last Supper. This chapel used to contain the back and the canopy of the former bishop’s throne. Bishop Jeremiah Newman (1974-1995) and Bishop David Keane (1924-1945) are buried in front of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. In all, six bishops of Limerick are buried in the cathedral.

The cathedral has been restored in the 1950s, the late 1970s and in 2003-2005. In the 1970s work, the bishop’s throne or cathedra was moved to the centre of the apse, with the original reredos of the High Altar as its backdrop.

During the latest restoration work, the baptismal font was moved to its original location in the north transept. A new aumbry, where the holy oils are kept, is now found in the former Blessed Sacrament Chapel, and contains the back and the canopy of the former cathedra, carved from Riga oak in Munich in 1894, with scenes of the Baptism of Christ, the Crucifixion and the Lamb of God.

Under the thirteenth Station of the Cross in the left transept is the tomb of Father James Fitzgibbon, who died during the cholera epidemic in 1837 at the age of 29.

To the right of the high altar, a white marble statue of the Virgin Mary was sculpted by Giovanni Benzoni and was donated by William Monsell, who later became Lord Emly.

One of the new features in Saint John’s Cathedral is the new surface around the High Altar which is laid out in the form of a 12-pointed labyrinth. It is based on a design by Michelangelo, and recalls the floor designs of many mediaeval cathedrals.

As I walked around Saint John’s Cathedral in its soothing lights, people were calling in and out constantly, finding quiet corners to pray and to contemplate, finding personal space in a building that towers over the city but is warm and welcoming.

The High Altar and the labyrinth in Saint John’s Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)