St Mirin's Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Saint Mirin in Paisley, dedicated to Saint Mirin the patron saint of Paisley, is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Paisley and is the seat of the Bishop of Paisley.

The former parish church of St Mirin [http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/ilwwcm/publishing.nsf/Content/ce-gm-press-BicentenaryParish] , it is situated in Incle Street, Paisley at the junction with Glasgow Road and was completed in 1931 close to the site of the original church of the same name which dated from 1808. The original building was the first Catholic church to be built in post-Reformation Scotland.

The present building was raised to cathedral status in 1948 following the erection of the diocese in 1947. Neo-Romanesque in style with a plain sandstone exterior and an airy arched interior, its architect was Thomas Baird. The chancel is principally of Italian marble.

Of particular interest are the pulpit by Gillespie, Kidd and Coia, with a representation of the Sermon on the Mount sculpted in relief from blond sandstone, and the Stations of the Cross which are Art Deco in style. In the apse four colourful tripartite stained glass windows depict the Twelve Apostles.

In the former baptistry to the north side of the vestibule is a stained-glass window depicting Jesus with children by Charles Baillie, whilst a shrine to St John Ogilvie by Norman Galbraith can be found on the south side.

The church, which is the largest in the diocese, can accommodate around 1200 worshippers. The current administrator is the Very Reverend Monsignor Gerard Canon Brennan.

Opposite the cathedral, at the junction of Incle Street with Gauze Street and Glasgow Road, stands a statue of St Mirin which was completed and unveiled in 2007.

On the 15 September 2008, the feast day of its patron saint, the Diocese of Paisley celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. To mark the occasion a mass concelebrated by His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio to the Court of St James the Most Rev Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh His Eminence Keith Patrick Cardinal O'Brien, the Archbishop of Glasgow the Most Rev Mario Conti, the Bishop of Motherwell the Rt Rev Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Aberdeen the Rt Rev Peter Moran, the Bishop of Galloway the Rt Rev John Cunningham, the Emeritus Bishop of Paisley the Rt Rev John Mone, the Bishop of Paisley the Rt Rev Philip Tartaglia and many priests of the diocese took place in the cathedral. Present at the mass were a large number of civic dignitaries and representatives of other churches in Paisley. Representing Her Majesty the Queen were the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire Mr Guy Clark and his deputy Mr James Wardrop.

References

* http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/ilwwcm/publishing.nsf/Content/ce-gm-press-BicentenaryParish
* http://www.paisleydiocese.org.uk/DSCF0233.jpg