Editing Down Cathedral

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2012}}
[[File:Down Cathedral (01), August 2009.JPG|thumb|right|180px|Down Cathedral, August 2009]]
[[File:Gravestone of St. Patrick, Downpatrick 2018-07-25.jpg|thumb|The reputed burial place of [[Saint Patrick]].]]
'''Down Cathedral''', the '''Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity''', is a [[Church of Ireland]] cathedral located in the town of [[Downpatrick]] in [[Northern Ireland]]. It stands on Cathedral Hill overlooking the town. It is one of two cathedrals in the [[Diocese of Down and Dromore]] (the other is [[Dromore Cathedral]]). The cathedral is the centre point of Downpatrick, a relatively new name for the settlement, having only come into usage in the seventeenth century.<ref name="UHF"/>

==History==

The annals record that St Fergus was the first bishop of Down and there are good historical reasons to connect him, from about the end of the sixth century, to the broad area of mid-Down.<ref name="UHF">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcaF2SCX1iwC&dq=down+cathedral+downpatrick&pg=PA227|isbn=9780901905857|title=Down Cathedral: The Church of Saint Patrick of Down|year=1997|publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation}}</ref>

Although not as ancient or carrying such well-attested historical importance as nearby [[Bangor Abbey]], there is little doubt that in the period of the [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic church]], when [[monasticism]] was such a hallmark of Christian settlements, that a community of monks lived on - or near - the hill overlooking the Quoile.<ref name="UHF"/>

These would have been wooden buildings and only by the tenth century would stone built buildings have existed, in part due to developing technology. The annals record various attacks, not all of which were successful, on the community at Down in the early eleventh century.<ref name="UHF"/>

The cathedral is dedicated to the [[Trinity|Holy Trinity]], a dedication first recorded in the 12th century.

In 1124 [[St Malachy]] became [[Bishop of Down]], and set about repairing and enlarging the cathedral. In 1177, Sir [[John de Courcy]] ([[Normans|Norman]] conqueror of [[Ulster]]) brought in [[Benedictine]] monks and expelled the older monastic community. De Courcy, who had enraged the king by his seizure of lands in Ireland beyond what he was granted, was taken prisoner there on [[Good Friday]] 1204. According to the account, the unarmed de Courcy managed to take a weapon from one of his attackers and killed 13 men before being overpowered and taken prisoner.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berry, MRIA|first1=Major R.G.|title=The Whites of Dufferin and their Connection|journal=Ulster Journal of Archaeology|date=January 1906|volume=XII|issue=1|page=122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HgdKAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA122|publisher=Ulster Archaeological Society|language=en}}</ref>

The [[royal charter]] was granted to Down Cathedral on 20 July 1609.<ref name="Rankin">{{cite journal |last1=Rankin |first1=Fred |title=Down Cathedral 1609-2009 |journal=Lecale Review |date=2009 |volume=7}}</ref>

[[John Wesley]] visited Downpatrick four times between 1778 and 1789 and on each occasion preached in the Grove on the hill of Down Cathedral.  A memorial stone marking his mission can be seen there today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Methodist church in Downpatrick closes |url=http://www.thedownrecorder.co.uk/pages/?title=Methodist_church_in_Downpatrick_closes |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.thedownrecorder.co.uk}}</ref> 

===Restoration===
The cathedral incorporates parts of the 13th-century church of the Benedictine Abbey of Down (Black Monks).<ref name="DOE">{{cite book | last=Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland| year=1983 |title=Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland | publisher=HMSO | location=Belfast | page=50}}</ref> It lay in ruins after the [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]] of the monastery in 1541.<ref name="Rankin"/>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Down Cathedral Act 1790
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Ireland
| long_title            = An Act for the more effectual Application of the Sum of One Thousand Pounds, granted by King's Letter, for the Support and Repair of the Cathedral Church of Down, and for defraying the {{sic|Expences|hide=y}} of the Celebration of Divine Worship therein.
| year                  = 1790
| citation              = 30 Geo. 3. c. 43 (I)
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 5 April 1790
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The restoration of the ruined 14th-century cathedral of Downpatrick was initiated after an act of the Irish Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Down Cathedral Act 1790}}''' (30 Geo. 3. c. 43 (I)), granted I£1,000 (approximately £{{inflation|UK|923.08|1790|fmt=c|r=-3}}<!-- I£13 = £12 sterling--> in {{Inflation/year|UK}}) for the purpose.<ref>"The Cathedrals of the [[Church of Ireland]]" [[John Godfrey FitzMaurice Day|Day, J.G.F./]] [[Henry Edmund Patton|Patton, H.E.]] p45: [[London]], [[SPCK|S.P.C.K.]], [[1932]]</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=DeBreffny, D  |author2=Mott, G| year=1976 |title=The Churches and Abbeys of Ireland | publisher=Thames & Hudson | location=London | pages=148–149}}</ref> It reopened for divine service on 23 August 1818.<ref name="Rankin"/> Work on a tower started later, and it was finally consecrated in 1829.<ref name="Rankin"/>

Crosses from the 9th, 10th and 12th centuries are preserved in the cathedral. The building today is mainly the original chancel from the 15th century, with a [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]] and tower added. It had a second major restoration from 1985 to 1987, during which time the cathedral was closed.

[[File:Down Cathedral (09), August 2009.JPG|thumb|right|180px|Down cathedral, August 2009]]

==Burials==
*[[Edward Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell]]
*[[Vere Essex Cromwell, 4th Earl of Ardglass]]

==Today==
It houses an 11th-century [[granite]] font discovered in use as a watering trough in 1927 and installed in the cathedral in 1931. In the cathedral grounds is the burial place of [[St Patrick]], believed to have died in 461. However, the inscribed stone of Mourne granite allegedly marking the grave was actually put in place in 1900. Outside the east end of the cathedral stands the replica of a weathered [[high cross]] made of granite. The 10th- or 11th-century original, which formerly stood in the centre of Downpatrick and was moved to the cathedral in 1897, has been on display in Down County Museum since 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.downcountymuseum.com/What-s-New/Downpatrick_High_Cross_Exension_Project|title=Downpatrick High Cross Extension Project|publisher=Down County Museum}}</ref>

Two small stone crosses now built into a wall in Down Cathedral appear to be 12th-century work and are carved with monks holding books.<ref name="DOE"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Down Cathedral}}

==External links==
* [http://www.downcathedral.org/ Down Cathedral] Official Website

{{Cathedrals of the Church of Ireland}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|54.327061|N|5.722547|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

[[Category:Anglican cathedrals in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Diocese of Down and Dromore]]
[[Category:Downpatrick]]
[[Category:Churches in County Down]]
[[Category:Grade A listed buildings]]
[[Category:Gothic Revival church buildings in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Pre-Reformation Roman Catholic cathedrals]]