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and prelate of the church of St. Patrick, and exercises
episcopal jurisdiction throughout the liberties and eco-
nomy thereof: he has a spiritual court in which his
official or commissary, and a temporal court in which
his seneschal general presides; and grants marriage
licences, probate of wills, &c. The gross yearly revenue
of the deanery, on an average of three years ending
Dec. 31st, 1831, amounted to £1997. 8. 1. By the
Church Temporalities Act the dean of St. Patrick’s is
to be dean of Christ-Church also; on the next avoid-
ance of that deanery, he will be dean of Christ-Church
without installation or induction. The dean and chap-
ter have the right of presentation to the parishes of
St. Bridget, St. Nicholas Within, and St. Nicholas
Without. The dean, in right of his dignity, presents
to the vicarage of Kilberry, and to the curacies of
Malahide and Crumlin; the precentor and treasurer
have the alternate presentation of the vicarage of Lusk,
and the archdeacon of Dublin that of the perpetual
cure of Booterstown, and three turns out of four of the
united cures of Kilternan and Kilgobbin. The gross
amount of the Economy fund, on an average of three
years ending the 29th of Sept., 1831, was £2076. 3. 11.
The archdeacon of Dublin had a stall in the chapter
of the cathedral of Christ-Church, and a voice in the
election of the archbishop, previously to his possessing
the same in that of St. Patrick; but the archdeacon of
Glendalough had neither of these rights until about the
year 1267, when a new prebend was erected and annexed
to the office. An additional corporation of six minor
canons (since reduced to four) and six choristers was
established in 1431 by Archbishop Talbot, on account of
the devastations of the lands of the prebends having
rendered them insufficient for the service of the church:
the first in rank he styled sub-dean, and the second suc-
centor: he endowed the entire body with the tithes of
Swords, except such portions as were especially allotted
to the prebendary and perpetual vicar; and vested the
appointment and dismissal of the minor canons in the
dean and chapter, and of the choristers in the precentor.
This arrangement was sanctioned by Henry VI. and
Pope Eugenius IV., who fixed the rank of the minor
canons between that of prebendaries and vicars choral.
In 1520 the minor canons and choristers were made a
body corporate by charter. Archbishop Henry de
Loundres, at the time he established the four dignitaries,
instituted also the college of vicars choral, for whose
common support he granted the church of Keneth (now
Khmeagh), to which various endowments were sub-
sequently added. The head of this college, styled
sub-dean, or dean’s vicar, enjoyed very considerable
authority, possessing even a seat in the chapter, as
also did the next vicar, called the sub-chanter, or
chanter’s vicar. They wore incorporated by Richard
II., and received their last charter from Charles I.,
who fixed their number at twelve, of whom five at
least were to be priests, and the dean’s vicar was to
have a superior salary, and extensive power over the
rest: the salary of the twelve vicars is directed by
this charter to be apportioned by the dean and chapter,
of whom the former enjoys the nomination to all vacan-
cies; but out of the body thus appointed, the chanter,
chancellor, and treasurer choose their respective vicars,
as also does the Archdeacon of Dublin. The charter
likewise secures to the Archbishop his ancient visitorial
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power; forms the college into a body corporate; con-
firms their ancient possessions; and binds them to pay
a master of the choristers, and two singing boys in
addition to the four choristers.
The Cathedral of St. Patrick is a venerable cruci-
form pile, 300 feet in length, of which the nave,
occupies 130 feet, the choir 90, and St. Mary’s chapel
55: the transept extends 157 feet in length. The nave,
the entrance to which is by a beautifully arched and
deeply receding doorway, is 30 feet in width, with two
aisles, each 14 feet wide, separated from it by octagonal
pillars supporting plain Gothic arches of dissimilar
arrangement but imposing appearance: it is lofty, and
is lighted by a magnificent window at the western end,
over the main entrance. In the south end of the tran-
sept is the chapter-house; the entire northern end is
occupied by the parish church of St. Nicholas. The
monuments in this cathedral are numerous: among the
most remarkable in the nave are those of Archbishops
Smith and Marsh, and that of the Earl of Cavan, who
died in 1778; and on two pillars on the south side are
tablets to the memory of Dean Swift and of Mrs. Johnson,
the celebrated Stella. The oldest monument is a mutilated
gravestone to the memory of Archbishop Tregury, who
died in 1471. In the choir are many monuments: that
of the first Earl of Cork, and several members of his
family, which is placed on the right side of the altar, is
an unsightly pile of black stone of antiquated sculpture,
with ornaments of wood, painted and gilt, exhibiting
sixteen unconnected figures, representing as many in-
dividuals of the family. Similar in style are the smaller
monuments, on the opposite side, of Thomas Jones,
Archbishop of Dublin, and Roger Jones, Viscount
Ranelagh, near which is a plain slab to the memory of
Duke Schomberg, with a very caustic inscription from
the pen of Swift.
TRINITY COLLEGE.
The foundation of a uni-
versity in Dublin was at first
attempted by John Leck,
archbishop of the see, who
in 1311 obtained a bull from
Pope Clement V. for its
foundation, but it was not
accomplished till 1320, when
his successor, Alexander de
Bicknor, having procured a
confirmation of the former
bull from Pope John XXII.,
established a school of
learning in St. Patrick’s
cathedral, for which he
framed statutes, and over which he appointed William
Rodiart, then dean of St. Patrick’s, chancellor. Edw.
III., in 1358, granted to the scholars his letters of pro-
tection; and in 1364 confirmed a grant of land from
Lionel, Duke of Clarence, to found a divinity lecture in
the university; but, for want of sufficient funds, the esta-
blishment gradually declined, though it appears to have
lingered till the dissolution of the cathedral establish-
ment, in the reign of Henry VIII. In 1568, a motion was
made in the Irish parliament for its re-establishment,
towards which Sir Henry Sidney, then lord-deputy,
offered to settle on it lands of the yearly value of £20