St. Mary's Pro Cathedral

Dedicated in 1825 before catholic emancipation was fully effected, St. Mary's is Dublin's Catholic Cathedral . Its backstreet site was the best the city's Anglo-Irish leaders would allow. The façade is based on the Temple of Theseus in Athens. Its six Doric columns support a pediment with statues of St. Laurence O'Toole, 12th century Archbishop of Dublin and patron saint of the city, St. Mary, and St. Patrick. In 1904 the great tenor, John McCormack, began his career with the Palestrina Choir here, which can be heard every Sunday at 11am.