View source for St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Irish English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox church
| name             = St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin
| image            = LeighlinCathedral.JPG
| caption          = St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin
| location         = [[Old Leighlin]], [[County Carlow]], [[Leinster]]
| country          = [[Ireland]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|52|44|11|N|07|01|34|W|region:IE-C_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| denomination     = [[Church of Ireland]]
| previous denomination = [[Roman Catholic]]
| website          = https://cashel.anglican.org/leighlin-cathedral/
| founded date     = Early 7th century
| founder          = [[St Gobhan]]
| dedication       = [[Molaise of Leighlin|St Laserian]]
| functional status = Active
| architectural type = Church
| style            = [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]
| years built      = 12th–16th centuries
| groundbreaking   = Early 7th century
| completed date   = 16th century
| length nave      = {{convert|82|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| length choir     = {{convert|59|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| tower quantity   = 1
| tower height     = {{convert|59|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| materials        = [[Rock (geology)|Stone]]
| diocese          = [[Diocese of Cashel and Ossory]]
| province         = [[Province of Dublin (Church of Ireland)|Province of Dublin]]
| bishop           = The Right Reverend [[Michael Burrows (bishop)|Michael Burrows]]
| dean             = The Very Reverend Tom Gordon
| precentor        = The Revered MA McCullagh
| archdeacon       = The Venerable JG Murrary
| organist         = T Williams
}}
'''St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin''', previously the cathedral of the [[Diocese of Leighlin]], is now one of the six cathedral churches in the [[Diocese of Cashel and Ossory]] of the Church of Ireland. It is situated on the site of a mediaeval monastery in the village of [[Old Leighlin]], County Carlow, Ireland, some 12&nbsp;km south of Carlow town in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin.
==History==
[[File:St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin, East Window.jpg|left|thumb|East Window, featuring 8 saints by [[Catherine Amelia O’Brien]]]]
A monastery was founded at Old Leighlin by [[St Gobhan]] early in the seventh century; he moved on and left the monastery under the direction of his brother, [[Molaise of Leighlin|St Laisrén.]] In 630, it was the location of a synod, where St  Laisrén convinced a group of [[History of Christianity in Ireland|Irish bishops]] to relinquish [[Celtic Christianity#Easter calculation|the Celtic method]] of calculating the [[date of Easter]] for the Roman one.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin |url=http://www.megalithicireland.com/St%20Laserian%27s%20Cathedral,%20Old%20Leighlin.html |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=www.megalithicireland.com}}</ref> The original monastic buildings were probably made of wood and were destroyed by fire, c.1060. Leighlin was named as one of five bishoprics of Leinster at the [[Synod of Ráth Breasail]] in 1111.
The present building was begun by Donat O'Kelly or Donatus, [[Bishop of Leighlin]] from c.1152 to 1181 and was finished by the end of the 13th century with the completion of the nave and choir. The two transepts, a tower, and a chapel attached to the choir were added in the 16th century, the latter two occurred in the time of [[Matthew Sanders]], [[Bishop of Leighlin|Bishop of Leghlin]] from 1529 to 1549. The south transept was later demolished, and the north transept left roofless. A [[pipe organ]] was installed under the tower in 1800 and later moved to  an alcove. General restorations occurred in the 19th century, including a fine timber ceiling in the chancel, installed in 1890.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=John |first=Eric |date=January 1972 |title=''Medieval Religious Houses, Ireland''. Aubrey Gwynn , R. Neville Hadcock |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2851235 |journal=Speculum |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=127–127 |doi=10.2307/2851235 |issn=0038-7134}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dumville |first=David N. |date=January 1997 |title=Anna Brindley &amp; Annaba Kilfeather, ''Archaeological inventory of county Carlow,'' P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock &amp; Bernie Moran, ''Archaeological inventory of county Laois'' |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1484/j.peri.3.317 |journal=Peritia |volume=11 |pages=443–447 |doi=10.1484/j.peri.3.317 |issn=0332-1592}}</ref>
== Architecture ==
The Cathedral Church of St Laserian is one of Ireland's smallest cathedrals. Originally built in the 12th century, it has been heavily modified since then by the addition of a central tower in the late 15th century, a chapel north of the chancel and the partial rebuilding of the chancel walls. The cathedral has an 82-foot long nave, a 59-foot tall central tower, and a 59-foot long choir rebuilt in the mid-16th century.<ref name=":0" />
The building is stylistically peculiar. Hardly any parts of the building are symmetrical with any other, down to the style of the windows. The nave's only window stands above the western door. The [[sedilia]] has four bays, the last a level above its fellows, and is flanked by a pair of trefoiled heads, dating from the late 13th century. The side-chapel's size is out of proportion with the rest of the cathedral. There is also evidence of haphazard additions: a 17th-century buttress blocks a 13th-century cancel window and there are blocked-up doors with no known purpose. Most puzzlingly, the cathedral has an underground passage, whose purpose and direction elicit only uncertain explanation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE CHURCHES OF LEIGHLIN PARISH, including St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin |url=http://www.saintlaserianscathedral-parishes.ie/stlaserian.php |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=www.saintlaserianscathedral-parishes.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin |url=http://www.megalithicireland.com/St%20Laserian%27s%20Cathedral,%20Old%20Leighlin.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331110700/http://www.saintlaserianscathedral-parishes.ie/stlaserian.php |archive-date=2018-03-31 |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=www.megalithicireland.com}}</ref>
The 11th century font, one of two in the cathedral, is probably the oldest item in the church.<ref>"The Cathedrals of the [[Church of Ireland]]" [[John Godfrey FitzMaurice Day|Day, J.G.F./]] [[Henry Edmund Patton|Patton, H.E.]] p119: [[London]], [[SPCK|S.P.C.K.]], [[1932]]</ref>
==Burials==
* [[Molaise of Leighlin|St Laserian]] (died 639), medieval abbot of Old Leighlin monastery and first Bishop of Leighlin. Grave unknown.
* Thomas O'Fihelly (died 1567), [[Bishop of Leighlin]] (under the choir)
* Matthew Sanders (died 1549), Bishop of Leighlin (under the choir)
==See also==
*[[Dean of Leighlin]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[https://cashel.anglican.org/leighlin-cathedral/ Diocese of Cashel and Ossory]
*[http://www.megalithicireland.com/St%20Laserian%27s%20Cathedral,%20Old%20Leighlin.html St Laserian's Cathedral, Old Leighlin]
{{Cathedrals of the Church of Ireland}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Anglican cathedrals in the Republic of Ireland|Leighlin]]
[[Category:Diocese of Cashel and Ossory]]
[[Category:Pre-Reformation Roman Catholic cathedrals]]