St Patrick's Cathedral

Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, was founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral and is now the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is the local cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. St Patrick's is not the seat of a bishop, as the Archbishop of Dublin has his seat in Christ Church Cathedral. St Patrick's has been designated the national cathedral for the whole of Ireland by the Church of Ireland since 1870, drawing chapter members from each of the 12 Dioceses of the Church of Ireland. The office of the dean has been in existence for over a century. Jonathan Swift was the office holder that was most famous. The Palace of the St Sepulchre, the seat of the archbishop, was one of a number of buildings in the vicinity of the cathedral, and legal jurisdiction was divided between a Liberty controlled by the dean and a larger one owned by the archbishop. There were a number of floods caused by the surrounding branches of the River Poddle in the 18th century and even in the 20th century. There would never be a crypt or basement area because of this situation. The cathedral accepts all, with a chapel for those who come just to pray and a small fee for those who wish to sightsee. St Patrick's Cathedral is one of the largest in Ireland with over 4,000 pipes, and it was mentioned on the cathedral website in 2006 that visitor numbers had reached 300,000 a year. The tenth heaviest change-ringing peal of bells in the world can be found in Patrick's Cathedral. There are over 500 people buried on the site under the cathedral's floor and outside in the graveyard. The cathedral is supported by a volunteer organization, with both subscribing (annual and five-year) and life members who perform various tasks and contribute to the work and fabric of the cathedral. bell-ringing, welcoming of guests, and cleaning are some of the specific tasks performed by voluntary groups.