Pope Leo XIV in November formally designating St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral as the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, ending 200 years of “pro-tempore” or “provisional” status. St. Mary’s, located two blocks off Dublin’s main boulevard, is now the capital’s first official Catholic cathedral since the Reformation.

The history of St. Mary’s is deeply interwoven with Irish religious and political history. As noted on the cathedral’s website:

The rebellion of 1798 and consequent reprisals postponed plans to build a large, central church … .  Catholic Emancipation did not, as hoped, come with the Act of Union passed in 1800.  Even the siting of the new church tells its own tale.  When in 1796, Drogheda Street (later O’Connell Street) was widened on its west side to align it with Sackville Street and become Dublin’s premier thoroughfare, one of the sites on offer was considered for the new St. Mary’s.  However, it was feared that such a bold step might only delay or jeopardize Emancipation, so attention was directed to a less conspicuous spot nearby, leaving the Sackville Street property to become the site of the new general post office.

St. Mary’s opened on November 14, 1825, as the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Chapel. It was the Feast of St. Laurence O’Toole, patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin. Ninety-one years later the 1916 Eastern Rising unfolded a few blocks away at the General Post Office, which had opened a few years before St. Mary’s. There was briefly talk of building a new Catholic cathedral in place of the burned out GPO, but the building instead was restored to its civic purpose.

Much has been written, including on this blog, about the decline of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland over the past several decades. The fall has appeared even more precipitous because of the robust and definitive presence the Church held in Ireland for more than a century.

“There can be a temptation to look to the past with rose-tinted glasses when the churches were full, but as we know not all was well and serious issues needed to be faced,” Auxiliary Bishop Paul Dempsey of Dublin said after the pope’s announcement. “This process has been disconcerting for some who have a nostalgia for the past and want to go back to the way it was. However, nostalgia could be described as a looking into the past with the pain taken away.”

He continued:

So today, as we reflect upon 200 years of St. Mary’s we are left with a choice: Do we lament the past and wish for its return or seek ways of looking forward with hope-filled hearts, responding to the new questions we face in a complex and changing culture? When I reflect upon the life of Jesus in the Gospels, I see someone who was always looking forward! As his disciples we need to do the same, while always learning from the past

Plans are being developed to renovate and restore the 200-year-old St. Mary’s Cathedral. The church appeared a little dingy during my last visit in April, though the Palestrina choir at the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass was lovely.

Dublin now has three cathedrals. Christ Church, the original Catholic cathedral when Protestants broke away from the papacy, is the Church of Ireland cathedral for the Dublin and Glendalough dioceses. St Patrick’s Cathedral is the Church of Ireland’s national cathedral.

A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus inside St. Mary’s Cathedral, Dublin. April 2025.