Thurles Cathedral

The Cathedral is the fourth church to be built on this site. The first one recorded was a Carmelite church built in the early fourteenth century. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530’s it fell into disrepair. The second church, known as the Matthew Chapel was built around the mid eighteenth century under the partronage of George Matthew who lived in Thurles at the time. The third church built on the site was known as the ‘Big Chapel’ and was dedicated to Saint Patrick. This church was a spacious, T-shaped building built between 1807-1808 at a cost of £10,000. The big chapel served as the Cathedral until the early 1860’s.

The fourth Church built here is the present Cathedral. Work began on it in 1861. Dr. Patrick Leahy who was Archbishop at the time decided to replace the ‘Big Chapel’ with a more grandiose structure. He regarded the ‘Big Chapel’ as “not worthy of this great diocese much less to be the metropolitan church of Munster”.