St. John's Church, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

In 1857 Archbishop Patrick Leahy chose the county town of Thurles as the location for the Catholic archdiocese of Cashel's new cathedral, instead of the town of Cashel. Cashel itself already had a fine church chapel dating from the Penal Era. This chapel, built from 1772, was situated on the the site of the medieval Franciscan friary. The architect largely responsible for the new chapel  was a Protestant, John Roberts, who went on the design both cathedrals at nearby Waterford. While greatly altered in the nineteenth century, the interior's original form remains largely the same, making it one of the few existing Catholic churches predating 1800.

Like many Catholic chapels erected in the eighteenth century, St. John's contained galleries. The reason for this was not solely to enhance aesthetics but rather as they allowed for the most economical use of space; galleries were a common sight even in many of Ireland's most wretched rural chapels. Galleries also served to enforce social segregation, with those from the lower classes standing in the nave, while the pews above were reserved for the better sorts, with wealthier parishioners often owning their own pew, sometimes marked by a plaque. 

In 1850 the exterior of the church was adjusted, refronted with a three bay pedimented front gable, with a clock tower above. In the twentieth century the three square windows below the pediment were removed, and replaced with mosaics to commemorate the Eucharistic Congress of 1932. 

A view of the remodeled interior 

The original sanctuary was considerably altered, with a new marble high altar and reredos installed. The east wall was given three lancet stained glass windows, and the sanctuary walls were ornately gilded. One of the most striking alterations to church was, however, a new hammerbeem roof in the nave, while the galleries received coffered ceilings, both a dramatic departure from the church's original Classical appearance.