Some people get really annoyed when I mention that Dublin does not have a Catholic Cathedral.

Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the (Anglican) Church of Ireland. It is situated in Dublin, Ireland, and is the elder of the capital city's two medieval cathedrals, the other being St Patrick's Cathedral.

For most of their common history, both Christ Church and St Patrick's held the status of cathedral for the Dublin diocese, a rare arrangement which only ended following the move to disestablish the Church of Ireland. In early times, there was considerable conflict over status but under the six-point agreement of 1300, Pacis Compositio, still extant, and in force until 1870:

The consecration and enthronement of the Archbishop of Dublin was to take place at Christ Church – records show that this provision was not always followed, with many archbishops enthroned in both and at least two in St Patrick's only.

Christ Church had formal precedence, as the mother and senior cathedral of the diocese.

Christ Church was to retain the cross, mitre and ring of each deceased Archbishop of Dublin.

Deceased Archbishops of Dublin were to be buried alternately in each of the two cathedrals, unless they personally willed otherwise.

The annual consecration of chrism oil for the diocese was to take place at Christ Church.

The two cathedrals were to act as one, and shared equally in their freedoms.

The 1868 Church Commissioners' report proposed making St Patrick's the sole cathedral and reducing Christ Church to a parish church.


To this day, the acting seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, St Mary's, is known as a "pro-cathedral" in acknowledgement of the fact that the Holy See claims Christ Church as the rightful seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop.