St Eugene's Cathedral

Saint Eugene's Cathedral
Saint Eugene's Cathedral, Derry
Rear Chancel of the Cathedral.
Saint Eugene's Cathedral Shown within Northern Ireland
Coordinates: 55°00′00″N 7°19′42″W / 54.999958°N 7.32846°W / 54.999958; -7.32846
Location	Derry, County Londonderry
Country	Northern Ireland
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	steugenescathedral.com
Architecture
Architect(s)	J. J. McCarthy
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1849-1873
Administration
Diocese	Derry (since 1873)
Province	Armagh
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Dónal McKeown
Canon(s)	Patrick Lagan

St Eugene's Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral located in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the "Mother Church" for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry, as well as the parish Church of the parish of Templemore.

It wasn't until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, that the possibility of building a Roman Catholic cathedral in Derry could be contemplated. Fundraising for the building of the cathedral took place from 1840. Work began on the construction of the cathedral in 1849. The cathedral's location is next to Francis Street and Creggan Street in Derry. The total cost of building the cathedral amounted to just over £40,000. Money was raised not just in Derry and Ireland, but also in America where around £4,000 was raised. The architect commissioned to design the cathedral was J.J. McCarthy who had already built numerous cathedrals across Ireland. The plan of the cathedral is a simple neo-gothic expression.

The cathedral was officially opened on 4 May 1873 by the then Bishop of Derry, Francis Kelly. The project to build the cathedral's bell tower and spire was postponed until a further date as no funds were available for the project. At first the cathedral's windows were made of just plain glass due to lack of funds. It was not until the late 1890s when stained glass windows were installed. Work on the bell tower and spire began on 13 August 1900, with the contract to build the tower and spire being awarded to Courtney and Co from Belfast. Work was completed on 19 June 1903.

The changes to the Roman Catholic liturgy in 1962/1964 meant that the sanctuary of the cathedral had to be reorganised. In May 1964 a temporary wooden altar was placed in the sanctuary to accommodate the mass being said in English and facing the congregation. Further temporary work was carried out in late 1975 with the addition of a larger wooden altar on a newly extended wooden sanctuary floor, the removal of the altar rails and the removal of the smaller pulpit on the cathedral's left hand side of the sanctuary whilst retaining the main pulpit located at the right hand side of the cathedral sanctuary. The wooden statues which adorned the main large pulpit's large canopy where removed and placed at other locations in the cathedral sanctuary just in time before Christmas Midnight Mass was transmitted live via Eurovision from the cathedral.