Today’s The World Around Us will be presented in Gaelic and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

May God be with you, charming viewers. Welcome to The World Around Us on Supreme Master Television. The island nation of Ireland has had the honor of keeping the fires of divine devotion lit through the ages. Graced with many incredible and brave saints, the people of this idyllic land have carried the love of God in their hearts for millennia, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin is a tangible expression of this devotion.

The first records refer to a little church here known as St. Patrick’s of the Island. That was an Irish church, constructed of timber, built between two branches of the river Poddle. Now, that building was associated with St. Patrick. Apparently, Patrick, who helped bring Christianity here sometime during the 400s, used water from that well to baptize local people and make them Christians.

In fact, there are three holy wells in Dublin associated with St. Patrick. The idea of pilgrimage became very important in Ireland. Way back with the early Celtic Church, going back now to 6, 7, 8, 900s, it continued on with Irish people going abroad on pilgrimages all over Europe, and indeed, within the island and other people from further afield coming to places here.

From its humble beginnings, the church of Saint Patrick ad insula was raised to the status of a cathedral by Norman Archbishop of Dublin, John Comyn in 1191.

In 1254, this current cathedral was finally dedicated, consecrated and dedicated to two patrons, Our Lady and St. Patrick. The cathedral was constructed mainly with a local type of limestone. However, some of the detailing was done in stone which came from as far afield as northern France.

To this day, the cathedral is a testament to the rich past of the city.

Masses would have been said and sung here, then the crossing where we are standing would have been built, the arms of the cross, the transepts, both north and south and finally the nave behind us. The Cathedral for the most part is Gothic. The Cathedral itself was built on the massive wall system of construction. It depended merely on the weight and strength of the walls to hold them up.

Chapels are buildings that are used by Christians for devotional purposes. As part of a larger cathedral, chapels are holy areas that are specifically reserved.

Historically in the Cathedral there were many chapels throughout the building. Now only a number still survive, where we are now is a part of the Cathedral. It really isn't normally open to the public. This little chapel in here is the ancient chapel of St. Steven. Directly behind me is the Lady Chapel and just over the far side there is Peter's Chapel.

Behind me is a fine black Irish marble baptismal font from the early 18th century.

Stained glass is a thousand year old craft that is mostly referenced to the windows of religious buildings, depicting stories from the Bible.

Two fine windows in the French medieval style of glass work, the one in the south transept depicting various biblical scenes and the one above the west door in front of me there, scenes from the life of St. Patrick.

Along with St. Patrick, St. Columba and St. Bridget are two of Ireland’s other well known patron saints.

Their lives, along with those of other holy personages, are also portrayed on the stained glass windows of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The idea behind stained glass was that it was a way of reaffirming to people their traditional gospel stories, particularly people who may not have been able to read. There's a strong Irish theme here, some very fine Irish windows. The one directly above us depicts St. Columba, St. Bridget and so forth.

Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for the continuation of our tour through St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. We’ll be right back after these brief messages.

The Cathedral was the largest medieval church in Ireland and it's still, I think, the longest church in Ireland. It's almost 100 yards long from the east end of the Lady Chapel to the Great West Door.

I've heard it said that for a community at that time to build a great cathedral in its midst was equivalent today to our sending a man to the moon – extraordinary achievement.

Welcome back to The World Around Us here on Supreme Master Television. We are visiting Dublin, Ireland today to tour the renowned St. Patrick’s Cathedral,

The Cathedral since 1870 has been the national cathedral for the Church of Ireland, which is part of the Anglican Communion in Ireland. So it has a Canonical representation with all the dioceses, the church dioceses all over Ireland; the island as a whole. And as a result, it has a special national function, so you have a lot of national organizations holding special services here. It has great acts of worship through the liturgical year.

Part of St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s storied past includes its relationship with famed Irish author and clergyman, Jonathan Swift. His novel, “Gulliver’s Travels,” is considered a classic of English literature.

Very well known in our Cathedral’s history is the great luminary Jonathan Swift. He was Dean here from 1713 to 1745. One of his many achievements actually was to establish alms houses near the building as well to help the Dublin poor. He was many things during his long life. He was a key political figure, a great pamphleteer. He was also, of course, a great satirist. He was a poet but very importantly, he was a priest, an Anglican priest at the age of 21 where he took Holy orders.

He ended up here as Dean in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. He spent a lot of his time again, through pamphlets to defending Irish interests. Whilst Dean here, he wrote his best known book, "Gulliver’s Travels" and many other things. When he died, he left his money to found a hospital to help people who were mentally ill still operating actually today. It's a wonderful legacy.

Down through the centuries, the cathedral has done an awful lot to help the less fortunate. That continues today, actually: the Cathedral distributes a considerable sum of money to help various charities, particularly helping the homeless.

It is not surprising that sacred music plays a significant role at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Glorious hymns in praise of God are sung by the choir.

From the very beginning of the cathedral story, music has been vital to worship in the building. We have had a choir school here from the 1430s and that still functions. We’ve had a reference going back to 1471 to an organ in the Cathedral; the Archbishop of Dublin, Archbishop Tregury, gave us that organ. The current organ we have, a wonderful wonderful instrument today, with over 4,600 reeds and pipes in it; a Harris organ actually, about a century old.

The cathedral also has a heartwarming anecdote of peace behind an ancient door that is on display.

There's a great story relating to that door that dates back to the year 1492. Two of the great Anglo-Normans, the Earl of Kildare and the Duke of Ormond met near this Cathedral. A little skirmish ensued. Butler fled here into the Cathedral to seek sanctuary. He went way over to the Chapter House which was over there and he pulled the door which is actually on display, today, tight-shut behind him; refused to come out.

Now time went by, so Fitzgerald, sensibly enough, got one of his men to cut an opening at the door, which you can still see, put his arm through it, shook hands with his adversary, a risky business. So there was an end to enmity; truce. War was over and out they came. We call it the “Door of Reconciliation” today.

Perhaps more than any other building in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Cathedral represents the historical and spiritual legacy of the people of the Emerald Isle. We thank Mr. Gavin Woods and St. Patrick’s Cathedral for graciously opening its door for today’s tour. May the Providence continue to shower blessings upon you.

Faithful viewers, thank you for joining us on today’s The World Around Us, airing every Sunday on Supreme Master Television. Up next is Words of Wisdom right after Noteworthy News. May your life be a joyous testament to the Creator’s boundless love. For more information, please visit