Cathedral
Cathedral
Galway Cathedral is a piece of 1960s extravagance. Probably the last of the religious follies in Ireland, if you discount the basilica at Knock, Co. Mayo.
The Cathedral was brought into being by the notorious arch-conservative Bishop Michael Browne. He acquired the site of the old prison from the State and, with £1m worth of US dollars, managed to construct this edifice between 1958 and 1965. It was opened by Cardinal Cushing of Boston in 1968. The bulk of the dollars had been raised in Cardinal Cushing's diocese.
Death and Resurrection
For me the Cathedral's most significant feature by far is the Chapel of the Resurrection. A very impressive side chapel, which has two most unusual mosaics for a church.
The first is of JFK. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the first catholic president of the USA and he had been martyred in office in 1963. He had visited Ireland in that year and been received with an acclaim only rivalled by the Pope some 16 years later. I remember myself watching virtually his whole visit live on TV. RTÉ was only in its third year at that stage and was still a wonder to behold. In some ways it is not surprising that an icon of JFK appeared on the wall as he was all but canonised in Ireland at the time. Nevertheless it is hardly fitting to have such a secular image on a cathedral wall - all the more so in the light of subsequent revelations about his personal life.
Interestingly, there is no emphasis nowadays on this particular aspect of the cathedral. There are no postcards or pictures in the official booklet, though it does rate a mention. It was suggested to me that, whatever about a downgrading, there could be no question of removing it in view of the hefty USA financial subscription which made construction of the cathedral possible in the first place.
Cross Michael earned his nickname from being a grumpy old soul, and the fact that he signed his letters and pastorals "+ Michael" seemed to endorse this. Mind you, every other bishop signed in a similar fashion, but Michael's cross just seemed that much more a reflection of his personality. Lest you think I exaggerate, I recently spoke with a member of the Galway diocese, whose spouse had commercial dealings with the same Michael, and who described him as a dreadful man.The second mosaic, on the opposite side of the altar in the chapel of the Resurrection is of Pádraig Pearse. Pearse was an educationalist which might have rated him a mention here but the mosaic is clearly a product of his canonisation following the blood sacrifice of 1916. The close identity between Irish nationalism/republicanism and the catholic church (pace the odd excommunication here and there), capped by the blood sacrifice, earned Pearse a place of honour in the church's iconography.
In looking for any trace of downgrading I came across this part of a pillar just outside the chapel. It looks to me like it used to have a plaque on it. I wonder what it might have been. Sheer coincidence?
Special Needs
Another aspect of the cathedral struck me. Perhaps I have been too long away from Holy Communion, or even Mass itself, but I had never before seen a special communion queue for coeliacs.
It is very welcome to see the church make provision for people with special needs in this way and I trust that the process of transubstantiation is robust enough to meet the challenge.
You can get further info on the cathedral at wiki