The cathedral at Glendalough was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul and was built in different periods between the 10th and the 13th century, but it ceased to be a cathedral in 1214. It's the largest building of the site.
The lower part of the building is the oldest, dating from the 10th, and was built with large stone blocks from an earlier smaller church. One century later the building was elevated by one floor.
At first the cathedral only had the nave, with a lintelled west doorway and an arch above it. Two centuries later a chancel and a sacristy were added and between the two sections a Romanesque archway was built. An additional doorway was inserted in the north wall.
Under the south window of the chancel there's an ambry, that is a recess into the wall to store vessels, cruets and chalices. The ambry also contains a piscina, where the vessels were washed.
A weird feature in the chancel is that a stone in the northeast corner of the wall is a bullaun stone.
In the nave and the chancel several ancient, and sometimes medieval, graveslabs can be found.
Sadly the building is ruinous.
We came here twice in the past. The first time on July 6th, 1994. The second time on May 20th, 2002.
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