Originally known as the Mortuary Chapel, the Holy Souls Chapel was dedicated to the memory of Archbishop Goold, who laid the first stone in 1880. Archbishop Goold is buried beneath the chapel; a brass memorial plaque marks his resting place.

The first Mass in the newly finished chapel was offered on 9 June 1888 by Archbishop Carr for the repose of the soul of his predecessor.

A matching brass plaque marks the resting place of Dean John Fitzpatrick, regarded as the main driving force in the building of the Cathedral.
The alabaster altar has centred in its reredos a large carving of the Resurrection of Our Lord, while the front of the altar has a carving of the Entombment.

The carved chair here is the one of a pair donated to the church in the 1890s. Its twin is now the cathedra, the throne of the Archbishop, and can be viewed in the Sanctuary.

The inscription on the arch at the front of the chapel reads: ‘Beati mortui qui in domino moriuntur’, (Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord), Apocalypse XIV.