This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on St. Canice's Cathedral is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| St.Canice's Cathedral | |
St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower. |
|
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Cathedral Church of St.Canice |
| County | County Kilkenny |
| Country | Republic of Ireland
|
Kilkenny, retains the anglicised version of the Irish Cill Chainnigh, which translates as Church of Cainneach or Canice. This most probability relating the church and round tower, now St. Canice's Cathedral, which was built in honor to St. Canice.
St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny, founded in the 13th century, is the second longest cathedral in Ireland . The site on which the cathedral stands has been a site of Christian worship since the 6th century. The architectural style of the cathedral is Early Gothic and it is built of limestone. The cathedral has been carefully preserved in its original style and form. It is richly endowed with many stained glass windows including the East window which is a replica of the original 13th century window. The cathedral contains some of the finest 16th century monuments in Ireland. The memorials stretch right across the social spectrum from the great figures of the house of Ormonde to the humble shoemaker and carpenter. The baptismal font is original and the ancient stone of enthronement for bishops still exists under the seat of the medieval throne in the North Transept, where to this day the bishops of Ossory are enthroned. The continental carvings on the choir stalls and the hammerbeam roof are not to be missed. Beside the cathedral stands the 9th century round tower. It may once have been a watchtower and a refuge and it can be climbed to give an unsurpassing vantage point to view the city of Kilkenny and the surrounding countryside.
The earliest church on the site is presumed to have been made of wood, being replaced eventually in the later medieval period by a romanesque-style stone church. This was in turn replaced by the current imposing medieval cathedral. List of abbeys and priories in County Kilkenny.
The Annals of the Four Masters recorded entries for Cill Chainnigh in 1085 and again in 1114;1
| “ |
Ceall-Cainnigh was for the most part burned. ... Cill-Cainnigh, ... were all burned this year. |
” |
|
—- Four Masters, Annals of the Four Masters, 1085 and 1114.2 |
||
There is no mention of Kilkenny in the lives of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Ciarán of Saighir or any of the early annels of Ireland suggesting that it had was not of ancient or great civil importance. 1 The hill now containing St. Canice's Cathedral and the Round Tower seems to be the first major settlement. The early christian origin of Round Tower suggests an early ecclesiastical fundation at Kilkenny.3 The area surrounding the Cathedral, Irishtown , is the oldest part of the city and became the hub around which the town developed. Though the religious origins of the city are well documented, it is not known as yet quite how early secular structures were constructed.
Further reading
- Hogan, John (1884). Kilkenny; the Ancient City of Ossory, the Seat of Its Kings, the See of Its Bishops and the Site of Its Cathedral. P. M. Egan.
- Graves, Rev. James (1857), The History, Architecture, and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny, Grafton Street, Dublin.: Hodges, Smith, & co., pp. 22, http://books.google.com/books?id=Z_IDAAAAYAAJ.
- Clarendon, De Ossoriensi Dioescesi, Clarendon Collection (tom. li. audit. number 4796); Trintity College, Dublin (E. 4.18)., pp. 19-30.
- Masters (1085), Annals of the Four Masters, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T100005B/text019.html.
- Ledwich, Edward, Antiquities of Ireland, Banton Press, ISBN 1856520250, 9781856520256
- Chadwyck-Healey, Inc (1856), Notes and Queries, University of Michigan: Oxford University Press, http://books.google.com/books?id=Wn0PAAAAIAAJ
References
- ^ a b Graves 1857, p. 23
- ^ Masters, Annals of the Four Masters vol. ii, p.923 from Irish:
- ^ Graves 1857, p. 25
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 11 November 2008, at 18:22.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "St. Canice's Cathedral".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.