Tuam Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tuam, commonly called Tuam Cathedral, is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam in Ireland. The Archdiocese covers half of County Mayo, half of County Galway and part of County Roscommon, Ireland.

Origins

The Cathedral of the Assumption was built through the efforts of Archbishop Oliver Kelly (1815-34), who called a meeting on 18 March 1827 to discuss the possibility of building a new cathedral for the diocese. The meeting was held in Tuam’s first post-Reformation Catholic church built in 1783, and the decision was made to build a cathedral.

:"It is the unanimous and decided opinion of the meeting that the erection of a spacious and commodious Catholic Cathedral in the Metropolitan See of Tuam is expedient and necessary, not only as a tribute justly due to our religion, but also with a view to the comfort and convenience as well as of the parishioners as the numerous strangers who occasionally attend at the celebration of the Divine Mysteries in this town".

The site was obtained, initially on a rental basis, from William Henry Handcock of Carrintrily, and on 10 February 1830 he agreed to a lease at a yearly rent of one shilling. In 1897 Captain Quintin Dick acquired the Handcock property and on 7 August 1897 he handed over the cathedral and its grounds to Archbishop John MacEvilly (1881-1902) and his successors forever as a nominal annual rent of one shilling.

Architect

The original architect was Dominic Madden, who also designed Ballina Cathedral and Ennis Cathedral. The Tuam Cathedral was soon regarded as one of the finest examples of early Gothic revival in Ireland, and of Madden's major work. The foundation stone was laid on 30 April 1827, but work came to a halt for some time due to a lack of funds.

Archbishop Kelly took a keen interest in the work of building the cathedral. Madden abruptly left the project in 1829 after being told that his planned chancel would have to be reduced in size because of a lack of funds. For a while, the cathedral committee themselves supervised the work until the appointment of Marcus Murray. The cathedral was completed to his revised plan. Murray’s son William was responsible for the tower, the high altar and the gateway. The glazing of the cathedral was in progress in 1832, and Archbishop Kelly had employed Michael O’Connor of 80 Dame Street, Dublin, ‘to prepare a beautiful stained-glass eastern window which will cost £240’ [http://www.tuamparish.com/pictures/cathedral.jpg] .

Archbishop Kelly lived to see the cathedral roofed and all but finished by the time of his death in 1834. Because it was not ready for use, Archbishop John MacHale (1791-1881) was enthroned in the old pro-cathedral. He supervised the construction of the tower and dedicated the completed cathedral on 18 August 1937. The cost, at the end of December 1837, was the very low figure of £14,204 0s 5d, due to ‘minute attention to economy.’

http://www.tuam-guide.com/images/cathedral1.jpg

Tuam Cathedral is built of limestone in the style of Decorated Gothic. The three-story west tower is 43m high and surmounted by eight richly pinnacles rising above the parapet, which is enriched with open tracery. The tower clock was installed in 1859. There are six square turrets at the angles of the Cathedral each rising above the parapets in octagonal form and terminating in eight octagonal spirelets. The distinctive tower dominates all distant views.

Interior

Internally, the cathedral is very similar to Madden’s cathedral in Ballina, though the east window is much larger and the ceiling bosses are more elaborate. The aisled nave of five bays is 20m wide. The aisles are divided from the nave by octagonal limestone columns which support a rib-vaulted plaster ceiling with elaborate floriated bosses and giant heads. Stained glass was provided by Joshua Clarke(d.1921)and the Harry Clarke Studios. The finest window (1860), behind the (now demolished) high altar, is by Michael O'Connor (1801-1867). The statue of Archbishop McHale outside the cathedral is by Sir Thomas Farrell (1827-1900)

Because nearly all the roof timbers were affected by death-watch beetle, the original ceiling was taken down in 1929-1931 as part of a major restoration costing £20,000 and replaced by the present plaster-vaulted ceiling which copies the design of its predecessor.

In 1933 the woodwork of the cathedral organ (purchased in 1870 from Bevingtons of London) was also found to be riddled with Death watch beetle. A new electric organ, incorporating parts of the original instrument was built and installed by Compton of London.

Re-ordering

An iconoclastic outburst in 1979 saw the destruction of the original baldachino, transept altars, pulpit and altar rails. A further effort was made in 1991, under the direction of Ray Carroll, to demolish the high altar and implant a misplaced faux roodscreen, which succeeded in obscuring the lower part of O'Connor's window. The great Lion of the West lies beneath all this, his crypt in-filled with the rubble of his own creation. One commentator described the overall present effect as reminiscent of a set for a re-run of Snow White and the seven dwarfs.

The initial reordering of the chancel and sanctuary took place in 1969, at the very end of the episcopate of Archbishop Walsh (1940-1969). The Italianate baldachino over the high altar, the two transept altars, the pulpit and the communion rails were removed. The marble high altar (designed, with the baldachino and the tabernacle, by Leonardi of Rome) was moved to a dais at the center of the crossing, and the baptistery was transferred to the shallow chancel at the rear. A new bishop’s throne by local craftsman Al O’Dea was installed. The Blessed Sacrament was reserved in a new aumbry in the east wall of the south transept, facing the south nave aisle. The aumbry, of gilt brass, was set in a slab of salmon-pink marble with a border of fluted gray granite.

Further reordering took place in early 1992. The entire cathedral was repainted and rewired, and the sanctuary area reordered. A new wooden screen with chevron patterning was erected behind the altar, turning the truncated chancel into a sacristy. O’Connor’s great east window is now partly obscured by the screen. A new dais of limestone was created to provide a focus for the new barrel-shaped granite altar. The Blessed Sacrament is now reserved in a gilt brass tabernacle, which now rests on a free-standing cylindrical granite plinth. The structure is now sheltered by a wooden baldachino.

Link to Church of Ireland Cathedral Exterior: [http://www.tuam-guide.com/images/Stmarys1.jpg]

Bibliography

* Jeremy Williams "A Companion Guide to Architecture in Ireland 1837-1921", Irish Academic Press 1994
* Peter Galloway "The Cathedrals of Ireland", The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, 1992

External links

*http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15079d.htm