Re: Re: Brother Michael Augustine O’Riordan

Here we have our Belfast friend back again. I do not think that the Board of First Fruits had need to be very operative in Northern Ireland as there were sufficiently large Protestant congregatiuons to support their own church building projects. The Board was much more operative in the South of Ireland. The Boards building projects were usually to a standard plan without great variation. The work was usually good but then, even for the smallest congregations, the Board was able to ensure a high standard church.

Catholics in Co. Cork at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century were fortunate enough to be able to begin a building programme while Catholicism was still a proscribed religion an d suffering serious discriminatory disibalities. The churches I have posted by O’Riordan reflect a variety of parishes with a variety of financial possibilities. The most elaborate were obviously Charleville and Doneraile where funds were available from the local Catholic gentry or the benevolant Viscounts Doneraile. I do not believe that it is very fair to judge either O’Riordan personally or professionally on the basis of the constraints under which he worked.