reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches
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PS – Praxiteles does not deny for a moment the general decline of western iconography -exceptions admitted- from the 18th cenury on.
Prax: you are right of course on both counts; the church looks to me like a 14th or 15th C Baltic gothic church (with characteristic brickwork) – here is the facade (it is the church of sw. Bartolomieja in the (Ukrainian) Greek-catholic eparchy of Wroclaw-Gdansk).
As in the Baltic brickwork chosen as prototype by A.W.N. Pugin for St. Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham
Again on the subject of stenciling painting and decoration in the sanctuary, here are a few shots of St.Patrick’s, Ringsend. I understand from an earlier thread that there was confusion as to the architect here. Was that ever resolved?
The mosaics and marble panels work beautifully together; what is this large gap in the altar rails? the ends seem to be the gate columns, but how would the gates have been this wide?; lovely mosaics in the south side chapel, which also houses the font it seems.
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The south altar has a blue carpet and the north red;
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The window is interesting; a large version of it here;http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086761@N00/2318942024/sizes/l/in/set-72157594578500551/
The window appears to be by William Earley who was also responsible for the lncet windows in St. Mary’s Chapel, Maynooth College, the sole surviving features of that chapel which has been twice gutted since 1970 -the last time by Ricahrd Hurley.
ake: very nice pics – this church should prosper with the development of the Docklands. The mosaics and statuary (of the two angels holding – originally – candles) are of a very high order and illustrate the earlier points about the quality of 19th C artwork, in a positive sense in this case. The gap in the rails will be so wide because the gates have been removed (why?) and the space between the gateposts deliberately widened (for no apparent reason). The church is generally in very good nick and has a nice atmosphere. Apart from the altar gates and the daft position of the font, it appears reasonably intact.
The removal of gates from the altar rils and the widening of the gate to the width of the altar was a very popular “liturgical” solution in the early 1970s and was wiedly applied -before the liturgists dcided that altar rails had to be reomved all togeher.
Of note, on a tangent, is that recently a friend waited and watched at the time of distribution of Holy Communion and noted that the line waiting for the priest was substantially longer than that queueing for the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EMHC). This was in Cobh Cathedral, which as you must all know by now was saved from destruction by the Friends of St. Colman’s Cathedral (FOSCC). In other words it would seem that people respond, sometimes instictively, to the architectural ‘statement’ of a church ,such as St. Colman’s, even if the true significance of that statement eludes them. Unfortunately it also eludes those in positions of authority. Where does that leave us?
In my experience it leaves us Nowhere.
All architecture,being a creation of man, leaves us with some meaning, some more profound then others. It would seem that those ‘in charge’ of the church in Ireland, either are whofully ignorant of this or are deliberately destructive. In the end the distiction is lost on the faithful, who, in the main, have been persuaded to believe/follow their local priest in all matters. If one is so funtunate to have a priest who acutally believes in what he does and is willing to espress that fact, then there is no dilemna, you follow.@Gianlorenzo wrote:
…..Cobh Cathedral,…. was saved from destruction by the Friends of St. Colman’s Cathedral (FOSCC).
…. people respond, sometimes instictively, to the architectural ‘statement’ of a church ,such as St. Colman’s, even if the true significance of that statement eludes them. Unfortunately it also eludes those in positions of authority. It would seem that those ‘in charge’ of the church in Ireland, either are whofully ignorant of this or are deliberately destructive.All too true on all counts!
St. Patrick’s ,Ringsend
Has anyone any idea of who the architect of this church might be? I have tried all the usual sources and can not find a reference to him or event to the church.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086761@N00/2318942024/sizes/l/in/set-72157594578500551/
The figure of Our Lady here is that of the Schutzmantel Madonna or the Madonna whose Protective Cloak is spread to embrace humanity or in English usually equated with Our Lady of Mercy. The window here has the delightful celtic revival detail of the mantle being held by St. Patrick and St. Bridget.
Prax: the only reference I can find is an exotic one – in Times, Chimes and Charms of Dublin by J Curtis (Verge Books Ltd, 1992, p.113) – where it is stated as having been built in 1912; there is naturally great detail about the bells, but no architect mentioned!
Some other examples of this particular piece of iconography which was well known from the 12th century and which was especially connected with the Dominicans and the Cistercians:
Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Madonna della Misericorida
And Hans Holbein’s depiction of the Schutzmantelmadonna protecting the family of Jakob Mayer, the last Catholic mayor of Basel:
The form was lso used as a protection against the plague. From the 18th.c on, it seems almost to have disappeared completely and at this point of time is as a good as unknown in Catholic iconography.
@johnglas wrote:
Prax: the only reference I can find is an exotic one – in Times, Chimes and Charms of Dublin by J Curtis (Verge Books Ltd, 1992, p.113) – where it is stated as having been built in 1912; there is naturally great detail about the bells, but no architect mentioned!
Thanks for that. It is a start. I cannot ubnderstand how such a fine church should be so completely overlooked.
@Praxiteles wrote:
The form was lso used as a protection against the plague. From the 18th.c on, it seems almost to have disappeared completely and at this point of time is as a good as unknown in Catholic iconography.
Do not forget the medieval image preserved in St Dominic’s cell at Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, Rome. St Dominic actually had a dream in which the members of his order were under the protective mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Some may recall the 1963 hit recording of “Dominique” by the Belgian Dominican nun, Soeur Luc “Sourire” Dekkers [aka ‘The Singing Nun”]. The song included a reference to that dream of St Dominic.
Verse seven:
Dominique vit un reve:
Les Precheurs du monde entier
Sous le manteau de la Vierge
En grand nombre assebles.Perhaps Prax might kindly summon up for us a photo of that famous image at S. Sabina.
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