St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast

St. Peter 's Cathedral, Belfast ( Irish: Ard Naomh Peadar Eaglais ) is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland and the seat of its bishop. It is located in the urban area Divis Street in the Falls Road in Belfast and was built in the 1860s. From here comes the chorus St Peters Schola Cantorum. The cathedral was classified in category A ( Grade A ) on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest and is a listed building.

• 2.1 Setting
• 2.2 conversion

History

During the 19th century thousands of Catholic workers came to Belfast in search of employment in the growing industries, particularly the linen industry. Many of them settled in the area around Pound Loney and Falls Road. The Catholic Centre Belfast was at this time close to the old city center, the St. Mary's Church in Chapel Lane. However, the church did not provide sufficient space for the rapidly growing number of believers, so that they sometimes had to follow the road from the Sunday service. To enable the drawn believers attend the services, the leading Catholic lay preacher and prosperous bakery chain operators Barney Hughes bought a 1858 located between Dystart Street, Derby Street and Alexander Street property and wrote it on December 2, 1858 Bishop Denvier. In July 1859 a Catholic cathedral was called to public solicitation of funds to finance the construction. In this way, up to January 1861 £ 2,367 will be collected and the construction could begin.

Architects

Two architects were commissioned to design the cathedral. Jeremiah McAuley, a örlichter priest who had worked as an architect before his ordination in 1858, drew the plans. Construction began in 1860, but in 1862 left McAuley the city and moved to the Irish College in Salamanca ( Spain) over. John O'Neill became his successor. He also designed the parish house at the rear of the building. Under O'Neill's leadership, the cathedral was nearly completed in 1866.

Ordination

The new church was dedicated in a ceremony on Sunday 14 October 1866 by the bishops of Dublin and Birmingham. Despite the bloody riots and violent clashes Irish separatists in August 1864 ceremony was also attended by many Protestants, and in a fundraising £ 2260 could be collected. The press reported extensively on the event. So wrote the liberal daily The Northern Whig on Monday October 15, 1866 St. Peter: ". In point of beauty and space there is no place of worship in Belfast Comparable to it " The pro-British newspaper The Belfast Newsletter praised the "beautiful Gothic structure". Lack of funds could not be completed McAuley ambitious plan 1866. The two towers, one of the most striking elements of St. Peter, was not completed until 1885. Until then, the towers were covered with a temporary roof.

Architecture

St. Peter was the first Catholic house of worship in Belfast, which was built in Neo-Gothic style. Built in a prominent position the cathedral from the south and from the west at the entrance to the city is clearly visible. Their most impressive features are the twin towers, five inputs, two covered entrances and above the main entrance, a sculpture depicting the liberation of St. Peter from prison. The cathedral is 54.8 m long and 21.3 m wide. The two western towers were first built for lack of money only at a height of 18.2 m. They were covered and provided with a decorative railing. Today, tapering spiers were completed in 1885 under the direction of architect Mortimer Thompson. An ensemble ten bells installed at the same time. The gallery, on the first of a harmonium was housed, in 1883 replaced by a church organ. The total cost for the construction of the cathedral, the organ and the bells were £ 35,900.

Since the 1880s until the end of World War II, no changes were made to St. Peter. In the late 1940s the side entrances were enlarged and a small chapel and a baptistery added. The sanctuary was rearranged and a new high altar installed.

Facility

The Cathedral was built from Scrabo sandstone from Scottish quarries. She is a three-aisled basilica without transept. The nave consists of seven bays. The einjochige choir opens into a vestibule. The aisles are provided, each with six, the clerestory with eight stained glass windows. In the apse are five picture windows with geometric tracery. The aisles are provided with simple mosaic floors. The supports their pent roofs are made in openwork.

The aisles end in small chapels on either side of the apse. The Chapel of the Virgin Mary on the south side is provided with a mosaic and a white marble altar, resting on a black marble base. Is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel on the north side.

The original high altar had one resting on six columns, 10 m high canopy of Caen stone, at its top a cross. High altar and baldachin were removed, and today is the cathedra of the bishop in the center of the apse. It is flanked by the sedilia of the Auxiliary Bishops and the choir of the cathedral chapter.

Rebuilding

After his appointment as Bishop of Down and Connor in 1982 Cahal Daly announced his intention to bring St. Peter Cathedral of Down and Connor. After obtaining the approval of the Vatican, the conversion work described above were carried out. In particular, the altar area was expanded by the removal of seven rows of seats. The changes in the interior were planned by Raymond Carrol and the architect Laurence McConville. The new altar, the chair, the pulpit and the holy water fonts were made from mahogany. After completion of the renovation work St. Peter was declared on June 29, 1986 formally to the Cathedral Church. Further renovations in the interior were carried out in the years 2004 and 2005 and all designed by Ray Carroll elements of the interior were removed.

Name

Although the church was misdeclared in official documents never Cathedral, St. Peter was known long before its official renaming and Umweihung as a cathedral. Here, however, all those ceremonies were held for a long time that had a cathedral reserved. On June 29, 1986, the church finally received the official title of "cathedral " and became the seat of the Bishop of Down and Connor. The Weihzeremonie the cathedral took place in 1888.

Today

Instantly the Cathedral by two priests is supervised, by Hugh Kennedy ( Kathedralverwaltung ) and Stephen Quinn.