reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches

Green is traditionally used since it is the colour associated with a bishop.

This is a perfect time to read Tertullian’s treatise On Baptism. It constitutes THE first treatise ever written on teh sacraments. Tertullian comes to the defence of Baptism by water in this penetrating analysis of Christian initiation. A MUST read for every Catholic today. Written in Latin, and translated into English, this fascinating treatise is available fre of charg on line. There is even an English/Latin version available online FREE OF CHARGE, so you can compare the translation against the original, just in case you find the translation dubious in any way (it is not). Simply type in Tertullian on Baptism and see what pops up.

You will marvel at how Tertullian (N. Africa ca 166- post 220) explains the many occurrences of water in the Old Testament and how they point to Christian Baptism in the New. You will never read the story of Noah’s ark in the same way – either for your own interest or for your children and grandchildren.

Do be sure, by the way, that your children and grandchildren play with some toy version of Noah’s Ark. Let them become well versed in the story so that they can at some point make the connection between the ark and the Church! Noah is a forerunner of Christ. Noah built th eark out of wood and brought on board animals clean and unclean plus his three sons, their wives, and Mme Noah: 8 people to repopulate the earth after the flood.

The symbolism here is striking indeed: Christ, by the wood of the cross, brought into existence His Church which drew in both Jews (clean) and Gentiles (the unclean). It stays afloat despite the menacing force of torrential rains (crises, tumults, controversies, and scandals). The eight human survivors are commemorated in the eight-sided baptistery and baptismal font. Some medieval churches drew attention to the connection between baptism (gateway to the sacramental life) and Eucharist (apex of the sacramental life – “source and summit of the Church’s life and mission” according to Lumen gentium 10) by commissioning chalices modelled on thelocal baptismal font. English chalices in fact usually have octagonal bases. [This had a practical function for keeping the chalice in position as it rested on its side at various points in teh course of the post-communion ablutions.

The figure of the dove hovering over the ark, bringing the OLIVE branch to Noah (sign of God’s gift of peace to sinful but repentant humanity), is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit, who brings the sweet anointing (of chrism made of olive oil and balsam) from above.

The symbolism is quite rich. The Noah’s ark set is an important catechetical tool as well as a source of good fun for the little ones. Be sure that you have one around the house for your junior family members and guests.

Pope Benedict XVI has blessed The Ark of the New Covenant which is making its round right now in North America (I think it’s in Canada right now – and, let me assure you all, it is much needed there!!). It is a structure that looks like both Noah’s Ark and the Ark of the Covenant. It depicts Our Lady on the cabin and supports the monstrance containing the Sacred Host for Exposition and Benediction. The Eucharistic Lord is the Glory of the Father Who takes up His dwelling place among men over the Mercy Seat of the Ark.

I hope that it comes to Ireland, and to Cobh in particular, so that all of you can seen this beautiful object.

@Praxiteles wrote:

3. Canon G. Casey, P.P., Doneraile [IM G]http://www.librarything.com/userpics/gerryc.jpg[/IMG]

Just so someone doesnt get misblamed 😀 That pic is not the Gerry Casey who was once in Cobh 🙂

@THE_Chris wrote:

Just so someone doesnt get misblamed 😀 That pic is not the Gerry Casey who was once in Cobh 🙂

You are right. Do you have a photo of Canon Casey ?

@THE_Chris wrote:

Just so someone doesnt get misblamed 😀 That pic is not the Gerry Casey who was once in Cobh 🙂

Thanks for that Chris and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was waiting for someone to send me a photograph and I can now confirm that Chris is correct and the photo shown is NOT Gerry Casey the present PP of Doneraile and member of the lazy steering committee responsible for the “restoration” of Cobh Cathedral. I shall post the relevant photograph shortly.

Something from this week’s Private Eye: cleraly, one could be forgiven for thinking that there is world wide conspiracy to rid the world of every trace of anything designed or built by E. W, Pugin.

I wonder whether the dilapidation trick is not what is in train by letting Cobh Cathedral fall down into a complete shambles: or, aka, Post-emptive vandalism? (viz posting no.2160 for a complete list of the vandalizers!).

@Praxiteles wrote:

Something from this week’s Private Eye: cleraly, one could be forgiven for thinking that there is world wide conspiracy to rid the world of every trace of anything designed or built by E. W, Pugin.

I wonder whether the dilapidation trick is not what is in train by letting Cobh Cathedral fall down into a complete shambles: or, aka, Post-emptive vandalism? (viz posting no.2160 for a complete list of the vandalizers!).

Could indeed, but lest they forget, the world is on to them and their apathy to the current maintenance of St.Colmans.This site has drawn attention to many facits of this neglect, discused, photographed, date/time stamped….. it is quite plan to the world who has their head in the sand…….

They will not pull the wool over anyones eyes anymore or collect funds under false pretences…..they have been proven to lie so I’m afraid anything they try from now on will be looked at very closely.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)

Here is a review of QUinlan Terry’s architecture from Apollo (October 2006)

An evangelical architect

A richly illustrated survey of Quinlan Terry’s career makes John Martin Robinson wonder why this ardent classicist regards himself as a martyr of modernism when he is such a puritanical modernist himself.

Radical Classicism: The Architecture of Quinlan Terry

David Watkin

Rizzoli £35/$60
ISBN 0 8478 2806 9

Above: Ferne Park, Dorset, by Quinlan Terry (b. 1934).

Above: the staircase hall in Terry’s Ionic Villa, London. Photos: Nick Carter

On reading this book about Quinlan Terry, the words about ‘a prophet in his own country’ come to mind. Highly esteemed in America, where he was the 2005 winner of the Richard H. Driehaus Prize, classical architecture’s highest honour, he has always been regarded at best with quizzical tolerance by a generally hostile English architectural establishment. Some of his best buildings have also been commissioned in the USA, including Merchants Square in Colonial Williamsburg; Highland Park, Texas; Pin Oak, Kentucky; and Latourette Farm, New Jersey. These will come as a revelation to those who only know his English work. Latourette Farm in particular is a singularly chaste Palladian villa that has a claim to be one of his best country houses, beautifully executed in Ketton stone from Northamptonshire.

Of course, Terry has always had strong supporters among his fellow countrymen, including the Prince of Wales, who has supplied a foreword to this book, and Professor David Watkin, the author. The Prince’s admiration for Terry is based on his respect for the consistency with which Terry has made architectural classicism a lifetime’s study, and the way he has developed opportunities to test historical precedents in his present-day practice. Professor Watkin’s support has been long-standing, and some of Terry’s major English commissions owe something to his promotion, notably the introduction to Cambridge and resultant library and college buildings. In his brilliant, if combative, introduction to this book, Watkin explains the reasons why he considers Terry the ‘single most distinguished and prolific architect at work in the classical tradition in either Britain or the United States’. These can be summed up as mastery of the grammar of classical architecture, sensitivity to place and history, love of ornament, and above all a supreme command of the technicalities of traditional building construction. Even his enemies cannot deny that Terry gets the best out of his builders. His stonework, carving, brickwork, mortar, joinery and mouldings all achieve near-18th-century standards of perfection.

This is one of many things that he derived from his old master, Raymond Erith, for whom he went to work in 1962, becoming a partner in his practice in 1966. Another is his brilliant draughtsmanship: reproductions of drawings by him, as well as the glorious photographs, by Nick Carter, make this handsome book a visual feast. From Erith, too, Quinlan Terry derived his strong belief in the continuity inherent in the classical tradition.

The one thing that Terry did not inherit from his master was his architectural style. Whereas Erith worked in a quirky, original, austere, rather puritanical Soanic architectural language, Terry’s work is more Palladian, with baroque grace notes, and can be very rich indeed when the budget stretches to it. The photographs of the interiors of a house in Knightsbridge or some of the Regent’s Park villas are not for those who prefer a diet of dry toast and Malvern Water. Erith used to joke to his pupil: ‘I am a Puritan, you are a Jesuit, and there, but for the grace of me, go you.’ This human joy in ornament can be seen already in Erith’s last work, Kings Walden Bury, the harbinger of the country-house revival (it was built in 1968-71), which shows the strong influence of Terry’s hand.

The book is an enjoyable read, not least because of its author’s robust attack on the ‘religion of modernism’, which he compares to the Taliban: ‘a puritanical religion, so iconoclastic that it permits no reference whatever to the forms, materials or methods of construction of traditional, classical, or vernacular language. It demands such total commitment that no one can opt out of it without fear of being labelled a cultural, intellectual and social outcast.’

This accurately reflects Terry’s own views. However, it is one of the aspects of Terry the architect that some people find disturbing. He has seen his life and career as a continuous and solitary battle against the modernist architectural establishment. But this was his personal choice. He could have practised classical architecture happily, basking in the respect and gratitude of cultivated and educated clients, without the aura of a gloomy Old Testament prophet. Competent classical architects in different parts of the country have done so perfectly contendedly during the past 60 years, from Francis Johnson in Yorkshire to Philip Jebb in Berkshire or William Bertram in Bath. Terry, and his buildings, might have been happier if he had.

The fascinating thing about Terry the architect is that he is at heart a modernist who has chosen to use the classical language, in place of that of Gropius or Le Corbusier. His Hampstead upbringing, and training as a modern architect have dictated his whole career and outlook. He started out designing flat-roofed glazed buildings, such as the 1960s school extensions (now demolished) at Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, before he ‘saw the light’ and went to work for Erith.

Many late-20th-century classical and traditionalist architects are also conscientious restorers of old buildings. This is not the case with Terry. He has no time for bits of historic fabric and materials per se, or the archaeological evolution of buildings, patina and age; in this he differs from many contemporary English traditionalist architects. This is a modernist outlook, and is demonstrated in his work by his radically contrasting extensions to historic buildings (Brentwood Cathedral), his drastic re-ordering of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, London, or the replacement of a genuine Georgian terrace in Baker Street with new buildings of his own design. In all this, he is comparable with arch-modernists such as Michael Manser or Owen Luder. He is, in fact, a born-again Evangelical rather than a Jesuit.

Thank God, however, that he did choose the classical language. His buildings are beautiful and deservedly popular, as the photographs in this book demonstrate. Crossing the bridge at Richmond and looking at his riverside development, with its perfectly cut stone, high-quality brickwork, good proportions, learned classical references and gilded finials and weather vanes glinting in the sun, raises the spirits in a way that no other post-war ‘comprehensive development’ in London does. Who cares if it is all a façade to open-plan offices? It looks marvellous, and so does this book.

John Martin Robinson is the author of The Regency Country House: From the Archives of ‘Country Life’, published by Aurum Press earlier this year.

@Praxiteles wrote:

Nice to see that An Bord Pleannala is now working out the practical consequences of the Cobh Cathedral decision and has cottoned on to the importance of the concept of “liturgical law established by competent ecclesiastical authority” – an idea first brought to public attention by the FOSCC:

http://www.pleanala.ie/REP/218/R218109.DOC

You see, the world is watching and paying attention…… Magoo and his rudderless committee might do well to remember this….

St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork: The West Rose Window