St Columb's Cathedral
| St Columb's Cathedral, Derry | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral Church of St Columb, Derry City | |
 | |
| 54°59′38″N 7°19′23″W / 54.99389°N 7.32306°W | |
| Denomination | Church of Ireland |
| Website | St Columb's Cathedral |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Columba |
| Administration | |
| Province | Armagh |
| Diocese | Derry and Raphoe |
| Clergy | |
| Dean | The Very Rev. Dr. William W Morton |
| Canon(s) | Rev. J. C. D. Mayes |
| Prebendary | The Ven. Donald S McLean, B. |
| Laity | |
| Organist(s) | Ian Kenneth Mills |
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St Columb's Cathedral in the walled city of Derry, Northern Ireland is the mother church of the Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry and Raphoe and the parish church of Templemore.
It is dedicated to Saint Columba, the Irish monk who established a Christian settlement in the area before being exiled from Ireland and introducing Christianity to Scotland and northern England.
History
The original site of the diocesan cathedral was in Templmore (Irish: An Teampalll Mór or "the Big Church"). Due to the violence of the Nine Years' War, the church was destroyed. It was first damaged by an accidental explosion on 24 April 1568, the church having been appropriated for the storage of gunpowder. On 16 April 1600, Sir Henry Docwra entered Londonderry with a force of 4,000 soldiers. He tore down the ruins of the Big Church and used its stones to build the walls and ramparts of the city.[1]A small square stone tablet from An Teampall Mór is today fixed into the porch of the present structure. The Latin inscription reads "In Templo Vervs Devs Est Verec Colendus" ("The True God is in His Temple and is to be truly worshipped").
The present structure, located close to the original, was completed in 1633 by William Parrot, in the Planter's Gothic style. Also in the porch is an inscription:
- If stones could speake
- then London's prayse
- should sound who
- built this church and
- cittie from the grounde.[2]
St. Columb's has in its possession many documents dating back from the Siege of Derry. They have portraits of William of Orange and the original keys of the city.
The Cathedral also contains a memorial to Valentine Munbee McMaster VC.
St Columb's is the first cathedral to be built by the Anglican church after the Reformation in the British Isles and the first Protestant cathedral to be built in Europe.[3]
Services
The cathedral has three Sunday services, 8:00am Early Morning Eucharist, 11:00am Sung Eucharist (1st and 3rd Sundays of the month), Matins (All other Sundays of the month), 10:00am Family Service (4th Sunday of the month) and 4:00pm Choral Evensong.
On weekdays Morning Prayer is celebrated Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 10:30am and on Tuesdays Holy Communion is celebrated with intercessions for the sick.
The cathedral is served by the Dean - Very Reverend William Morton and a Curate Assistant Canon Reverend John Merrick.
Organists
- 1873-1878 James Turpin
- 1878-1911 Daniel Jones
- 1912-1914 Sydney Weale
- 1914-1921 Richard Henry Coleman
- 1921-1948 John T Frankland
- 1948-1968 Michael H Franklin
- 1968-1971 Neil Wade
- 1971 Ian Barber
- 1972-1980 Michael Hoeg
- 1981-1982 Marc Rochester
- 1982-1988 William West
- 1988-1990? Alexander Best
- 1990-1991 William West
- 1991-2001 Timothy Allen
- 2002-2004 Jonathan Lane
- 2005- Ian Kenneth Mills
Burials
- William Nicolson, Bishop of Derry (1718–1727)
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The Bomb Font (A cannonball) inside the Cathedral
See also
References
- ^ St Eugene's cathedral official website. History. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
- ^ "BRIEF HISTORY OF ST COLUMB'S CATHEDRAL LONDONDERRY". www.stcolumbscathedral.org. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/siege/civil-unrest.shtml
External links
