St. Mary's Cathedral

This guide to St. Mary's Cathedral in Dublin opens with an anonymous 1814 design competition entry signed only with the letter P, and the two-century argument over who actually drew the plans for the Doric-columned church that resulted. You'll hear about John Sweetman, the Dublin brewer's son and 1798 rebel who officially claimed the design, and the wartime politics that historians think may have kept the real architect's name hidden. It follows the building from its 1825 opening toward a funeral held generations later that made it part of Irish history in its own right.