Dromore Cathedral

Built in the 1600s, Dromore Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the Down and Dromore Diocese, the other being Down Cathedral in Downpatrick. Although it doesn’t pack as much of a punch architecturally speaking as the likes of St Anne’s, it is much more modest, yet equally stunning, in its appearance, both inside and out.
Naturally it is a much smaller building, but Dromore Cathedral incorporates a various number of elements that you would expect to see in such a place of worship. The baptistry, lectern, pulpit, war memorial window, communion table and balcony all add a wonderfully authentic flavour to the cathedral, and add a decorative touch without being OTT.
In terms of actual church services, I have had the pleasure of attending two very different ones. The first was a harvest service at 10am on a Sunday morning, which was really unusual for me coming from a Pentecostal background. It was fairly traditional, with hymns accompanied by the organ (I do love a good organ), as well as a short sermon, but I did rather enjoy it. The choir weren’t bad, but we all know the story of such singing groups… let’s not lie. Good attempt though.
The second time was for the ordination of my brother’s friend, which was much longer, involved an awful lot of Latin, a sermon by Bishop Miller, hymns that I didn’t recognise (don’t you just hate that?), some more Latin, and an awful lot of structure. It was extremely traditional, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure how I stayed awake. But hey, they sure know how to do things properly!
There are three services on a Sunday, which attempt to provide something for everyone — the 10am service is a more family-​orientated service, whilst the 11:30 is much more traditional, and the 6pm service is a traditional evening service.
The history behind the cathedral is really very interesting, and building has certainly got the wow factor. It wouldn’t be my first choice for church-​going, but I will (and have) tried anything once!