Welcome to St Mary's Cathedral

Bishop Farrell and Fr Scriven welcome you to St Mary's Cathedral.

Casting a watching eye and blessing over the city of Kilkenny for over 180 years this magnificent cathedral of St Mary's stands proud at 162 feet (49 metres) in length, 100 feet (30 metres) wide in the transepts and with a central tower that is 186 feet and six inches (57 metres) to the pinnacles of the tower. The foundation stone was laid on 18 August 1843 and it was opened and consecrated on 4 October 1857 by the Bishop of Ossory, Most Reverend Edward Walsh.

In the years that have followed every generation has contributed to the beauty of the building – adding altars and statues, Stations of the Cross and mosaic decorations, murals and paintings, and in more recent years cleaning and preserving.
This church is a living place of faith and prayer. It is a parish church serving the needs of the parishioners of the oldest part of the Marble City. It is a place where hundreds have gathered in song and celebration: welcoming new bishops and newly ordained priests, witnessing weddings, burying the dead, celebrating First Communions, welcoming the Holy Spirit in Confirmation – a place that has celebrated life and death, joys and sorrows.

It is a place which welcomes the lonely individual as well as the Sunday congregation. It is a place of beauty and repose which gives rest to the soul. It is a place of mystery, a place of warmth, a place of private prayer and intercession, a place of nooks and crannies, a place for lighting candles and passing the time of day with saints, a place of companionship with the Lord. A place to celebrate, a place to be renewed, a place to be united with God.

Enjoy your visit to our website. If you are in Kilkenny drop in to visit our beautiful Cathedral.

Le gach dea ghuí

Richard Scriven
Administrator