St Canice Cathedral

St Canice's Cathedral (also known as Kilkenny Cathedral), is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Ossory, it is now one of six cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory. The present building dates from the 13th century and is the second longest cathedral in Ireland. Beside the cathedral stands a 100 ft 9th century round tower. St. Canice's tower an excellent example of a well-preserved early Christian (9th century) Round Tower. It is dedicated to St Canice. It is one of only two such medieval round towers in Ireland that can be climbed to the top.^[1] The cathedral stands on an ancient site which has been used for Christian worship since the 6th century. In the 1120s the see of Ossory was moved from Aghaboe to Kilkenny. Following the English Reformation, a new body was established by decree of the Irish Parliament to became the State Church in the Kingdom of Ireland. The Church of Ireland, as it was named, assumed possession of most Church property (and so retained a great repository of religious architecture and other items, though some were later destroyed). The substantial majority of the population remained faithful to the Latin liturgy of Roman Catholicism, despite the political and economic advantages of membership in the state church. Since St Canice's Cathedral was taken over in this way, Roman Catholic adherents were consequently obliged to worship elsewhere. St Mary's, was later built for the Roman Catholic diocese. The cathedral contains some 16th century monuments. The architectural style of the cathedral is Early Gothic and it is built of limestone. 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. Kilkenny was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Ossory, and St Canice's Cathedral stands on a site which has seen Christian worship since the 6th century. The name of Kilkenny itself retains the anglicised version of the Irish Cill Chainnigh, which translates as "Church of Cainneach", or Canice. The earliest church on the site is presumed to have been made of wood, later to be replaced in the later medieval period by a romanesque-style stone church. This was in turn replaced by the current imposing medieval cathedral. A few yards from the present south transept stands an imposing 9th century round tower, 100 ft high.^[2] Accessible only by a steep set of internal ladders, it may once have been both a watchtower and a refuge, and the summit gives a good view of Kilkenny and the countryside around. The hill on which the cathedral stands is believed to be the centre of the first major settlement at Kilkenny, and the round tower suggests an early ecclesiastical foundation.^[3] Much less is known about the early secular structures, but the area around the cathedral, called Irishtown, is the oldest part of the present city. The present building was begun in the 13th century, when it was at the western end of Kilkenny,^[2] and shows some similarities to St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, both dating from the same period and completed by the end of the 13th century.^[6] In the Red Book of Ossory, fifteen pages dating from about 1324 contain sixty Latin verses, or Cantilenae, written by Richard Ledred, Bishop of Ossory, better known for his connection with heresy and witchcraft trials. As stated elsewhere in the Red Book, Ledred wrote these verses "for the Vicars Choral of Kilkenny Cathedral, his priests and clerics, to be sung on great festivals and other occasions, that their throats and mouths, sanctified to God, might not be polluted with theatrical, indecent, and secular songs."^[7]