Pope Leo XIV may designate St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral as Dublin’s Catholic cathedral on its 200th anniversary, resolving a Reformation-era void.
Newsroom (10/11/2025 Gaudium Press )In a move poised to heal one of the Reformation’s most enduring scars in Ireland, Pope Leo XIV is anticipated to formally elevate St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral to the status of Dublin’s official Catholic cathedral, according to church officials and historical accounts. The proposal, timed with the 200th anniversary of the north inner-city church’s completion, would grant the city’s Catholic archbishops a dedicated seat for the first time in nearly five centuries.
St Mary’s, located on the modest Marlborough Street, has served as the de facto hub for Dublin’s Catholic majority since its construction in 1825. Yet its “Pro-Cathedral” designation—derived from the Latin pro tempore, meaning “for the time being”—reflects its origins as a provisional solution amid lingering anti-Catholic restrictions.
Fr Kieran McDermott, the Pro-Cathedral’s administrator, detailed the site’s deliberate understatement in an interview with RTÉ. “The original intention had been to build on the site where the General Post Office now stands on O’Connell Street,” he said. “That was in the aftermath of the 1798 Rebellion and some of the Penal Laws against Catholics were still in force. So the Catholic community decided not to ‘push their luck’ and settled on a quieter site on nearby Marlborough Street instead.”
The absence of a permanent Catholic cathedral traces directly to the 1530s, when Henry VIII’s break with Rome transferred both Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick’s Cathedral to Protestant control. “So the rupture, and I think that’s the word we have to use, was the Reformation in the mid-1530s,” Fr McDermott explained. “Five hundred years later Christ Church remains the seat of the Church of Ireland Archbishop and St Patrick’s is the Collegiate Church for the Church of Ireland on the island of Ireland.”
Historical efforts to rectify this include a 1930s architectural competition for a grand cathedral on a Merrion Square site acquired by the Archdiocese, though the plan never materialized.
The issue resurfaced prominently following Archbishop Dermot Farrell’s 2021 installation. In public remarks, he posed a pointed question: “Is it correct to say that the Catholics of Dublin haven’t had a dedicated cathedral in 500 years?”
After extensive consultations, Farrell advanced the current proposal: designating St Mary’s as the full cathedral while elevating St Andrew’s on Westland Row to minor basilica status. Sources indicate the plan now awaits papal approval from Pope Leo XIV.
Fr McDermott expressed optimism for a swift resolution. “It would be lovely if it could happen this year, particularly as we celebrate the bicentenary,” he noted.
If approved, the designation would not only affirm St Mary’s architectural and communal significance but also symbolize a formal reconciliation with the Reformation’s divisive legacy in Ireland’s capital.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Catholic Herald
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