1804: Cardiff and Newport brought under the Usk Mission.

1804 – 1839: Cardiff was being served by Fr. Patrick Portal till his death in 1835 and then by Fr. Edward Metcalfe and Fr. Leonard Calderbank and they were helped out by Fathers Burke, Bevan and Larkin.

1839: Father Patrick Millea arrives as the resident priest. Bishop Peter Augustine Baines OSB urged the Cardiff catholic community to build its own church.

1839 – 1842: The people of Cardiff contributed their pennies for Church building and there was support from a fund set up to assist church building in South Wales. Fr. Millea travelled around Ireland collecting funds for building the new church in Cardiff. At the same time a large suitable site at the bottom of David Street was bought for the Church with help from small businessmen.

1842: The new church was completed. The total cost of the project including the purchase of the site was £2,124 17s 8d. The new church was opened on Wednesday 14th October 1842 with a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the new Vicar Apostolic of the Welsh District Right Rev. Thomas Joseph Brown OSB. The new church was dedicated to St. David at the request of a benefactress, Lady Catherine Eyre of Bath, who had given £3,000 for the building of two churches one in Cardiff and one in Swansea – with the request that they be dedicated to the Patron of Wales.

1843: Work commenced on the building of a presbytery.

1854-1859 : At the request of Bishop Brown rosminians arrive as resident Priests in Cardiff . The foundation stone of a new school in David Street was laid. Fr. Lawrence Gastaldi was appointed Rector of the Cardiff Mission.

1865-1868 : Father Charles Caccia became rector of Cardiff Mission which saw the enlarged grammar school open in David Street .

1874- 1882 : Fr. Bruno returned to St. Davids. Bishop Brown died in 1880 serving the area for 40 years and overseeing massive expansion of the Church in South Wales . Bishop John Cuthbert Hedley succeeded as the new Bishop.

1882 -1887 : Rev W. Williams was the new Rector of Cardiff. The church on David Street in its present form was now becoming inadequate to the growing Catholic community of Cardiff . A new site was found on Charles Street . The task of designing the new church was entrusted to Messrs. Pugin and Pugin. The high altar was constructed by Messrs. Boulton of Cheltenham at a cost of £1000. In less than three years the church was built.

1887 – 1895 : In recognition of his wonderful work in the parish Father. Williams was raised to the dignity of Vicar General of the Diocese and at the time of his death in 1895 St. David's had established itself as a self supporting Parish with a new Church, convent, a school and a community hall.

1895- 1915 : Monsignor Williams was succeeded as Rector of St. David's by Father Alphonsus Van den Heuvel. It was during this period in 1905 that Cardiff was raised to the Status of a City. It was Bishop Hedley who had the vision to recognise that Cardiff was destined to the administrative center of South Wales and accordingly advised Rome for ecclesiastical changes to be made for Wales .

1915 – 1925 : In 1915 after his death, Cardiff was established as an Archdiocese. The first Archbishop to be appointed was Rev. James Romanus Bilsborrow. During this time it was decided that Cardiff should have a Cathedral. It was a matter of great joy for everyone at St. David's that it was declared as the Cathedral Church of the new Archdiocese of Cardiff on 12 th March 1920 . In 1921 Bishop Francis Mostyn of Menevia was named the second Archbishop of Cardiff. Fr.Alphonsus Van del Heuvel retired in 1922 and returned to his native Holland after serving a successful 27 years. He was succeeded by Rev. Canon Daniel Joseph Hannon.

1925 – 1939 : Saw continued Catholic development of the Church in Cardiff with the opening of new parishes and schools and a steady supply of new priests. Towards the end of this period the threat of war overshadowed the lives of all. Archbishop Mostyn died in the same year and was succeeded by Bishop Michael McGrath, the Bishop of Menevia.

1941 - 1952 : A large enemy air raid occurred on 3 rd March 1941 in which St.David's Cathedral was also destroyed. Incendiary bombs pierced the slates and ignited the roof space and the tinder dray wood was immediately consumed. The congregation was forced to return to worship in the old church on David Street , which was to be known as St.David's Pro- Cathedral. Father Peter F. Gavin was the new Administrator of the pro-cathedral.

1953 – 1959 : Work began immediately for the planning and rebuilding of the restoration of the Cathedral to its former beauty. The task of redesigning the Cathedral was entrusted to Mr.T.G.Price and Messers.F.R.Bates & Son. Contemporary ‘Stations of Cross' and the Statues on side altars and the organ was commissioned. The Cathedral was re-opened, eighteen years since its destruction by bombing in 1941.

1959 – 1961 : Archbishop Michael McGrath died and Bishop John A. Murphy was appointed as his successor. It was a very changing period for the Cathedral with population moving out of the city centre to the periphery of the city. New parishes were setup and new Catholic secondary schools were set up in every part of the Archdiocese.

1982 - 1983 : His holiness Pope John Paul II visited Cardiff and celebrated Mass in the grounds of Cardiff Castle . Archbishop Murphy retired in 1983 and Rt. Rev. John Aloysius Ward succeeded as the new Archbishop of Cardiff.

1983 – 2001 : Under his guidance the Cathedral has gone through an intensive period of interior refurbishment bringing up to date with liturgical reforms of the past thirty years.

2001 : Archbishop Ward retired in 2001 and Bishop Peter Smith, Bishop of East Anglia was to be the sixth Archbishop of Cardiff. Archbishop Peter, a Doctor of Canon Law was formerly Rector of St. John's Seminary, Wonersh. He was installed at St. David's Cathedral on 4 th December 2001 as Archbishop of Cardiff and Metropolitan of the Welsh Province .