 |
| ST. MALACHY'S CHAPEL, BELFAST. -St. Malachy's Catholic church or chapel, dates from 1844 and is, as can be seen, built in the Tudor style of architecture. It is handsomely finished interiorly and contains, among other costly memorials, a superb tablet of marble to the memory of its generous benefactor, the late Captain Griffiths, who left by his will, $25,000 for the adornment and preservation of the chapel. There are other fine Catholic churches in Belfast, among them St. Patrick's on Donegal Street, and St. Peter's on the Falls road. All are called "chapels" locally, which indeed, was the general appellation given to Irish Catholic places of worship previous to Emancipation, in 1829. Possibly the form clings to Ulster, or at least the county Antrim, because the effects of the penal laws against Catholics were longer, and more bitterly, felt in that province, and particularly that county, than in any other section of Ireland. It was no easy thing to be a practical Catholic in Belfast during the fever-heat of Orangeism a generation ago. Now however, religious animosity appears to have cooled down and ther is every reason to hope that it well nevermore be revived, at least ot the same savage extent as in former days. |
 |  |