St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast

Until the Reformation the cathedral of the Diocese of Down & Connor had been at Downpatrick. But, at the beginning of the 19th century, Belfast was a growing town and with the appointment of William Crolly in 1825 the episcopal seat moved there. St Peters's was originally envisaged as the parish church for the expanding post-Famine Catholic population of Belfast. The site was provided by a wealthy Belfast flour merchant and philanthropist, Bernard Hughes[1] while the church was designed by Fr Jeremiah Ryan McAuley, who had trained as an architect before he became a priest. [2]

The church was opened on 14 October 1866. The signature twin spires were added in 1886.[3]

It was built on a scale and with a level of high quality interior decoration that it became known as a pro-cathedral, or temporary cathedral, for the Diocese. In that regard it was an honour shared with St Patrick's Church, Belfast in Donegall St where, for example, Bishop Patrick Dorrian was buried in 1885 and where in 1929 Bishop Daniel Mageean was consecrated bishop.

The decision to designate St Peter's as the diocesan cathedral was taken by Bishop Cahal Daly who celebrated the Mass on 29 June 1986 at which the building was formally designated as the Cathedral Church of Down and Connor.

The exterior is of Scrabo sandstone with Scottish sandstone dressings. Internally there is a hammer-beam ceiling. [4] There were several extensive refurbishments in 1950, in 1986 under the direction of the controversial Irish artist Ray Carroll and more latterly in 2003/5 which undid much of the 1980s work.

It is a Grade A listed building.[5]

Mass is celebrated every day in the Cathedral.

• Sunday Masses are: Vigil (Saturday) 5.30pm; 9am, 11am (High Mass) and 6.30pm.
• Weekday Masses are at 10am, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Other Sacraments and Liturgies

• Confessions are at 10.30am and 5pm on Saturdays.
• Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place each day (except Sunday) from 10am - 10pm.
• Baptisms take place on second and fourth Saturdays at 11.30am.
• As the diocesan Cathedral, St Peter’s hosts major celebrations in the local Church calendar such as the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday.

From St Peter's Cathedral website[6] unless otherwise stated:

• Fr William Blaney: 1866–1873
• Fr Andrew McAuley: 1873–1882
• Fr Patrick Convery: 1882–1895
• Fr John McCartan: 1895–1898
• Fr John Tohill: 1898–1905
• Fr Bernard Laverty: 1905–1911
• Fr John Healy: 1911–1919
• Fr Thomas McDonald: 1919–1929
• Fr Alexander McAteer: 1929–1930
• Fr George McKillop: 1930–1943
• Fr John McLaverty: 1938–1943
• Fr George Watson: 1943–1945
• Fr Leo McKeown: 1945–1949
• Fr Laurence Higgins: 1949–1955
• Fr Patrick McAtamney: 1955–1960
• Fr Joseph McConville: 1960–1963
• Fr James McCloskey: 1963–1966
• Fr Sean O’Neill: 1966–1967
• Canon Padraig Murphy: 1967–1971
• Fr Francis Teggart: 1971–1974
• Fr Alex Darragh: 1974–1978
• Fr Vincent McKinley: 1978–1983
• Fr Joseph McGurnaghan: 1983–1986
• Fr Sean Connolly: 1986–1990
• Fr Anthony Alexander: 1990–1994
• Monsignor Thomas Toner: 1994–2006
• Fr Hugh Kennedy: 2006–2016
• Fr Martin Graham: 2016 –

• Peter Galloway, The Cathedrals of Ireland, The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, (1992).

• A picture of the cathedral.
• Official Site