St Mary's Pro-Cathedral

Save
  • Address
    Northside, Marlborough St, city centre
  • Show map Close map
  • Phone
    874 5441
  • Transport
    bus: 3, 10, 11, 13, 16, 19 or 22 from city centre

Let us know if these details are incorrect

Lonely Planet review

Dublin's most important Catholic church is not quite the showcase you'd expect. It's in the wrong place for starters. This large neoclassical building, constructed from 1816 to 1825, was supposed to be on O'Connell St where the GPO now stands, but the local Protestant community - who pretty much ran the show back then - went nuts about the idea of it having such a prominent position.

So it was built in a much less conspicuous side street, away from the main thoroughfare and smack in the middle of Monto, where purveyors of the world's oldest profession plied their trade. In fact, it's so cramped for space around here that you'd hardly notice the church's six Doric columns, which were modelled on the Temple of Theseus in Athens, much less be able to admire them. The interior is fairly functional, and its few highlights include a carved altar by Peter Turnerelli and the alto relief representation of the Ascension by John Smyth. The best time to visit is on Sunday when the Latin Mass is sung by the Palestrina Choir, with whom Ireland's most celebrated tenor, John McCormack, began his career in 1904.The design of the church is shrouded in some mystery. In 1814 John Sweetman won a competition held to find the best design for the church, a competition that had actually been organised by his brother William. It's not certain whether John actually designed the building, since he was living in Paris at the time and may have bought the plans from the French architect Auguste Gauthier, who designed the similar Notre Dame de Lorette in northern France. The only clue as to the church's architect is in the ledger, which lists the builder as 'Mr P'.

Finally, a word about the term 'Pro' in the title. It implies, roughly, that it is an 'unofficial cathedral'. More accurately it was built as a sort of interim cathedral to be replaced when sufficient funds were available. Church leaders never actually got around to it, leaving the capital of this most Catholic of countries with two incredible-but-under-used Protestant cathedrals and one fairly ordinary Catholic one. Irony one, piety nil.