Irish Martyrs' Chapel
Restored in 1997, the Chapel of the Irish Martyrs serves as a tranquil sanctuary for prayer and reflection within the college. Honoring the legacy of those who gave their lives for the faith, this sacred space invites all who visit it a space to seek spiritual nourishment, contemplation, and renewal in the presence of God.
The tabernacle, which itself boasts ornate Celtic-Christian imagery, is situated in a smaller quiet space, allowing the student an intimate place of contemplation that echoes the monastic Irish heritage of prayer and solitude. The chapel’s design harmonizes traditional and contemporary elements, creating an atmosphere that fosters both communal worship and personal devotion.
The crucifix, which hangs at the center of the chapel, is in the style of the Penal Cross, characterized by its noticeably smaller arms. This distinctive design allowed priests to conceal it easily beneath their garments during times of religious persecution, particularly in 17th- and 18th-century Ireland when the practice of the Catholic faith was severely restricted.
Whether gathered for the Eucharist or seeking a moment of stillness, all who enter are invited to deepen their faith in the spirit of the rich spiritual legacy of the Irish Martyrs.
Chapel of the Irish Saints
Dedicated in 2010 by His Eminence Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, the Chapel of the Pontifical Irish College is dedicated to All the Saints of Ireland whose Feast Day is the 6th November. The community gathers each day in this Chapel for daily prayer and Eucharist. On Sundays, the congregation swells as pilgrims and visitors to Rome join with the community for Sunday Mass.
There is a deliberate interplay between the colours red and blue in the mosaic. Red is the colour of divinity; blue the colour of humanity. Christ wears a red tunic covered by a blue mantle to remind us that the Son of God took on human flesh. Our Lady has a blue tunic, signifying her humanity, surmounted with a red cloak, indicating the divine grace that she received. Saint Athanasius remarked that “God became human so that we might become God” (De Incarnatione 54, 3). This invitation to become more like God finds a special expression in the liturgy of the Church and in the Eucharist. Notice the blue and red irregular shapes and lines throughout the mosaic: the mystery of God’s incarnation and of our divinisation permeates the work.
While the saints in the apse are depicted in deisis, episodes from their lives are included in the representations of Saints Joseph, Saint Brigid and Saint Patrick on the sidewalls of the nave. The nave, the central aisle or way forward in any church is a symbol of the length of the life of all creation, of all humanity, of the Church and of each person. We are accompanied on this journey by the saints who help us to overcome the many trials that life presents.
When the College community gathers for prayer, it joins with the Glorified Lord and with Our Lady and the saints in heaven in giving praise and glory to God the Father. In this way the pilgrim Church on earth is united with the glorious Church in heaven. This idea is also expressed in the arrangement of the seating in the sanctuary: the two rows of concelebrants in the apse visibly join with the third row of saints in the mosaic directly behind them to form one group gathered around the glorified Christ.
Traditionally, the apse of a church represents the bosom of God the Father who generated the Son and from whom all comes and to whom all returns. The community that gathers to pray, then, is inserted into this mystery of beginning and end, and with Christ acknowledges God the Father as the source of all life and as the ultimate fulfillment of all creation.
