St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Last night I e-mailed my new book to my agent. Yay! It’s such a nice feeling. My son wanted to know what I wanted Santa Claus to bring me this year. I told him another book contract would be nice. We shall see.

After we left the Guinness Storehouse, we rode the Hop On, Hop Off tour a little longer until we came to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Interestingly enough, Jonathan Swift worked there (author of Gulliver’s Travels) as the dean. He went to Mass every day and made sure that Mass was celebrated every Sunday. His tomb is there also, along with some gory artifacts (his death mask). On the left here is the ambo where readings are done. I love the woodworking.

Jonathan also worked as the choirmaster. Here’s a quote about one of the choir members, which I found funny: “Mr. Fox— An infamous sot, who is daily losing his voice by intemperance and will become in a year or two more a burden to the church. Very negligent in his attendance, scandalous in his behaviour and conversation—if he will not endeavour to make himself serviceable and as useful as he might have been upon his admittance, he shall meet with the severity he deserves and be expelled.” Here is a full view of the church. It’s really large with some other fascinating artifacts. I saw two stones with symbols proving the existence of Christianity in ancient Ireland during the 7th and 10th centuries. Both had Greek crosses carved into the stone.

There’s another interesting artifact: a wooden door. Apparently there was a feud in 1492 between the Earl of Kildare and the Earl of Ormond. They fought in the cathedral, and one of the Earl of Ormond’s men, nicknamed Black James, was retreating in the chapter house. The Earl of Kildare did something pretty risky to try and end the feud. He cut a hole in the door and put his hand through. Black James opened the door (instead of cutting off the earl’s hand) and they ended the fight inside the cathedral. That’s where the expression “to chance your arm” came from.

Before you can enter St. Patrick’s, you have to pay an admission fee. It struck me as odd, paying admission to enter a church. Though I certainly believe they should take up donations to keep the church restored and in good condition, there’s something about the admission that feels wrong. I’m still glad I visited, because there were some fascinating stories.

Tonight I may take a short break before I dive into my next book proposal and watch the season premiere of Lost. Anyone here watch it? I wonder if Michael and his son really did escape (somehow I doubt it…).