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| DOWNPATRICK CATHEDRAL, COUNTY DOWN. -The Cathedral or Downpatrick is built, according to tradition, on the ancient church in which were deposited the remains of St. Patrick-McGee, in his History of Ireland, says he was burried at Armagh-St. Bridget and St. Columbkill. It was destroyed by fire during the wars of Edward Bruce against the English, in the early part of the Fourteenth century; was restored in 1412 and again burned by Lord Deputy De Grey in 1538. Its final restoration was begun in 1790. The edifice is an imposing and massive one-the chief material being "rock-faced" stone. The building is strongly buttressed and comprises a nave, choir and aisles. The tower, embattled and pinnacled, can be seen from a great distance, as the structure stands on an elevation. Interiorly, it is magnificently finished. The windows of the aisles are divided by a single mullion and the splendid east window, divided into twelve compartments, is said to be all of the original church that remains. Near the Cathedral is situated the gigantic rath, called in Gaelic Dunlethglas-Dun of the Broken Fetters-vulgarized to "Down," with the name of Patrick added, to show the connection of the Saint with the locality. The "dun" is 60 feet high and three-fourths of a mile in circumference, including outworks. |
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