Making a Difference - at St. Patrick's in Dublin

Is it possible that we have almost reached the end of our trip? This visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland is our last entry before the trip home. It has been a lot of fun going through the almost 40G of photos shot by 23 travelers and putting them together in a storyline of our adventure. The next project is the completion of their photo album!

So...it may not be St. Peter's and it may not be St. Paul's.....but it has a history and charm of its very own.

Enjoy St. Patrick's Cathedral with us!

Though St. Patrick's is an architectural and historical site, its main purpose even today, remains that of worship.

Celtic Cross - The cross has a pretty interesting history and stories vary regarding where it first came from. Since no history points directly to one thing over another, we will just go with this one....St. Patrick brought this new cross in when working to convert the pagan Irish. The celts used a 'sun cross' which was a circle with a cross (or plus sign) in the center. St. Pat used the Christian cross placed over the circle to indicate that Christianity was for all. As time passed, the crosses were designed with the elaborate intertwining designs that are so famous to the Celtic people. 

St. Patrick's Cathedral from the garden side. Though the church is much older, this building dates back to 1220 and is built next to a well where St. Patrick supposedly baptised converts.  Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. The church belongs to the Church of Ireland, which is Anglican. 

The Cathedral fell into disrepair over the centuries and had several major 'refurbishments'

This is the central aisle. I have never seen such an ornate tile floor. The photos don't really do it justice. 

One comment that I kept reading in the journals was about how knowledgeable our guide was. While some thought she talked too much, most thought that she provided wonderful information about this place. It turned out that she was one of the top guides in Dublin and the one that our tour company used as their lead guide who sets up all of the tours for them. We were very fortunate to have outstanding guides on this trip. 

Are they taking it all in?

The ornate decoration on the columns have the busts of many of the Deans of the Cathedral. A Dean is basically the head of the church. 

Supposedly the tomb of St. Patrick. It was pretty imposing. 

The stained glass windows were beautiful but most of them date from the 19th Century when there was a major refirbishment. (We would call it renovation). The roof was about to collapse and was being held up by scaffolding. There were two major cathedrals in Dublin...St. Patrick's and Christ Church.....both were facing similar decay. 

I found it interesting that the refurbishment of each of these cathedrals was paid for by the 'brewing families'. The Benjamin Guinness family paid for the refurbishment of St. Patrick's (1860-65) and the other brewing family took care of Christ Church. Because they did not do such a great job of keeping records, it is hard to tell what part of the cathedral dates to which periods, but most of St. Patrick's now looks rather Victorian.

Below is the stained glass of St. Patrick with the beautiful Irish Harp.

 Now..... a little fun with all of the statues. Yes, we learned about most of them.

The pulpit had this massive brass eagle in front of it. Of course, being TMA Eagles, this drew a lot of attention from the students.

The church organ. The choir is something spectacular in Dublin....very well renowned. They still have a music school as well. The Choir School was founded in 1432 and centuries later, many of the members took part in the very first performance of Handel's Messiah in 1742. 

                                                         The Baptistry Font

One of the chapels

Looking down the central aisle. It was January and just after Epiphany, so they had not yet removed the Christmas tree. The altar is way on down there. You get to the Quire (choir) first. 

The Quire (Choir)....they sit on both sides of the central aisle and face each other. 

I love this shot. It is the flags and the helmets and shields above the Quire.

And finally....the altar.

All of the information about Jonathan Swift was so interesting and our AP English "Prof" added great insight. There were many Deans of the Cathedral over the centuries, but the most well recognized was Jonathan Swift. This is the same Jonathan Swift of "Gulliver's Travels" fame.

The life of Jonathan Swift is pretty interesting. His father died before he was born, he bounced back and forth between Dublin and England, worked for an interesting variety of people, gained a great education including a Master of Divinty, and was quite opinionated politically. (No wonder I like him!)

The most interesting part of the story is that after a period of time, working within the church, he was ready for what he thought would be a 'grand and important appointment." Queen Anne (who appointed people to important places) did not care much for him, so she sent him off to the Deanery of St. Patrick's. He was so upset that he considered it to be a 'life in virtual exile to live like a rat in a hole."

Death Masks were pretty popular back in 1745. This is good olde Jonathan Swift.
But....now you are captivated and 'dying' to know the rest of the story....right?

So here is Dean Swift, off to what he considered exile. But often, when we don't get what we want, we find ourselves spending a lot of time asking God 'why?".....and in that search, we actually commune with God. And eventually start listening.

During this time in Dublin, he got involved in caring about the Irish struggles and social injustice. And....he started doing one of the things that he did best, which was write. He was a satirist and wrote many pamphlets expressing his opinions. One of the most famous was "A Modest Proposal" which is interesting even today.
But out of this period of 'exile' also came one of his greatest works, which was of course, "Gulliver's Travels"
 

Brass plate over the tomb of Dean Jonathan Swift.
He died at age 78 and the last years of his life, he was considered mentally ill. They have since discovered that he had "Menniere's Disease" (Vertigo and ringing in the ears)

This might be good to read these days!

A political statement - social welfare of children. It was satire but a lot of people took him seriously and thought him crazy.

St. Patrick's offered us a pretty interesting day.

Beauty all around

Absolutely! I hope the kids walked away with the idea of making a difference in the lives of others.

A memorable visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
My prayer for these students is that each of them finds a way to make a difference in the lives of others by introducing the people they meet to Christ....the only one who can make a true and positive difference.