Religion of Ireland
By Gabrielle Mazza
All of the photos are from religious sites in Ireland: St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Kevin's Monastery, St. James Catholic Church, The Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church and St. Colman's Cathedral.
For descriptions, open the slideshow in fullscreen and click "show info," or view the set.
Photo 1: The Normans built a church in stone on this site in 1191 called the St. Patrick's Cathedral. This was rebuilt in the early 13th century and is the building we see today.
Photo 2: The church is mainly used as a place for worship. They have over 300,000 visitors each year from all over the world.
Photo 3: A well that once existed in the park alongside the cathedral is said to have been the place where St. Patrick baptized converts to Christianity.
Photo 4: Beautiful flowers surround the park at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Photo 5: St Patrick's is one of the largest cathedrals in Ireland. It is 91 meters long externally and the nave is 17 meters high.
Photo 6: Hundreds of Celtic crosses stand upright overlooking the Glendalough valley.
Photo 7: The round towers at Glendalough were used as storehouses and as places of refuge in times of attack.
Photo 8: According to legend, anyone who can wrap his or her arms around St. Kevin’s cross at Glendalough will receive his or her wish. There are three types of Celtic high crosses. This is an example of a plain cross.
Photo 9: St. Kevin's Church or St. Kevin's Kitchen is unusual in that it has a round tower integrated with a church. The round tower gave the church the name "St. Kevin's Kitchen." The church here was originally only one room with the sacristy and an upper apartment being later additions.
Photo 10: Hundreds of tombstones stand in the graveyard at Glendalough.
Photo 11: The entrance gate is one of the most important monuments to Glendalough. The walls at each end suggest that it had timber roof.
Photo 12: Glendalough, the valley of the two lakes, is located in County Wicklow, Ireland, that is renowned for its early medieval monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century.
Photo 13: The Celtic cross was introduced by St. Patrick or Saint Declan during his time of converting pagan Irish.
Photo 14: A window in the cathedral where one can see the various layers of stone.
Photo 15: This is a look at the interior of the Cathedral at Glendalough. There was various phases in the construction of it. One can see the tomb stones within the cathedral.
Photo 16: This church was designed by Patrick Byrne, who also designed quite a few churches within walking distance. Here is St. James Cross.
Photo 17: St. James Catholic Church is located in City Centre, Dublin.
Photo 18: St. John's Lane Church opened in 1874 on the site of St. John's Hospital (founded in 1182). It is located on Thomas Street, Dublin.
Photo 19: (From left to right) John Gannon and Helen Downes have volunteered at the St. John’s Lane Church for 30 years. Downes used to do mission work but currently works in the church gift shop.
Photo 20: St. Rita was an Austinian nun of cascia in Italy, who died in 1477.
Photo 21: The Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church is a Roman Catholic church in Dublin that has relics of St. Valentine, which were donated to the church in the 19th century by Pope Gregory XVI.
Photo 22: St. Colmon's Cathedral contains the largest Carillon in Ireland with 47 bells. It took 47 years to build starting in starting in 1868.