reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches
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Kilmallock church is by JJ McCarthy and an important one which is relatively well preserved and which, mercifully, has been spared most of the usual petty vandalisms practised on Irish churches. I have a picture of the foundation stone and will post it. Charleville, by M. A Hennessey, while interesting is not externally of the same quality as Kilmallock but the mosaic work in the chancel far surpasses Kilmallock’s. You can see the spire of Kilmallock from the terrace of Charleville. Will post all soon.
@Graham Hickey wrote:
Maybe you could answer R.Larkin – did John Smyth ever live up to his father’s skill and reputation? Often thought he must have been a hard act to follow 🙂
Who was the finer sculptor of the two do you think? What other work in Ireland is his, as you never hear much about him aside from the GPO and Pro, unlike Edward who crops up everywhere! Thanks.
H.Potterton thinks the son is a better sculptor of church monuments than the father. There are monuments by Smyth in St Patrick’s Cathedral (several),St Werburgh’s, St Ann’s,Dawson St.,St George’s,Hardwick Place (2),Lisburn Cath.,Goresbridge,Co.Kilkenny,Ferns Cath.,Armagh Cath.,Newry (several), andSt Peter’s,Drogheda (2) all C.of I.Some of these monuments are quite accomplished for example the monument to John Ball in St Patrick’s.He had a talent for portraiture evidenced in some of his classical medallion style low reliefs on monuments. The Ascension in the Pro seems to be the most unsatisfying of all his work; I think one would have to see it from above. From the door it seems to get lost.
The freestanding statue of George Ogle M.P. in St Patrick’s Cathedral,though unsigned, is attributed to him. I think this is his most interesting work. He seems to have captured the character of this rather controversial man who also features in Francis Wheatleys painting of the Irish House of Commons.
There is also a signed monument by Smyth in Holy Trinity Church,Newport, Rhode Island.
J.Smyth carved the figures and the tympanum over the College of Surgeons and several busts still in the possession of the college. St Andrew over the church in Westland Row is also attributed to him, the first statue outside a Catholic church since penal times. An uncharacteristic crucifixion at the back of St Michan’s R.C. church is by him. His father had carved a wooden crucifixion for the then chapel in Navan in the 1770’s. This still exists.
The G.P.O. figures have now been replaced by casts. The originals are in the O.P.W. store. One authority has attributed these to Thomas Kirk but most think they were by J.Smyth. The Royal Arms at the entrance to the Kings Inns have been credited to both himself and his father. Since his father died in 1812 it seems more likely that this was the work of the son.
Smyth worked with his father on the carvings of the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle and completed the work since his father died two years before it was finished. The heads on the rear garden wall of Francis Johnston’s house at 64 Eccles St bear a strong likeness to the heads at the Chapel Royal. One of these heads is George III. John Smyth’s first exhibited work was a bust of George III, A joint work with his father. This house has been discussed on another thread.The low reliefs on the front of the house may be by Smyth. He was master of the R.D.S. modelling school for 24 years. These are fairly weathered at this stage but they strongly resemblre the style of a charming low relief of Venus and Cupid by Smyth in marble, now hanging in the members’ bar of the R.D.S. It forms a pair with a low relief by Thomas Kirk called ‘The Drunken Banditti’!
It happens that where you find Francis Johnston you will also find one of the Smyths. The little church in Goresbridge was also by Johnston. Edward Smyth did a bust of Johnston. Some people believe that the companion bust of Johnston’s wife was by John. These are now in the possession of the Ulster Museum.
J.Smyth did the keystone heads at the bridge et the Four Courts, (Richmond,now O’Donovan Rossa Bridge).These have also suffered from weathering.
John Smyth was commissioned by the Apprentice boys of Derry to carve a statue of Rev. George Walker,hero of the siege. This was mounted on a massive pillar resembling Nelson’s Pillar. It was possible to climb steps within it to the top. It looked out threateningly over the Bogside until it was finally blown up in 1973. The Walker Memorial was the biggest landmark in Derry until that date.
In the past few days I have discovered that Smyth worked on the carving of the Gothic dining room in the neo-Gothic Gosford Castle,Co Armagh. I am trying to establish its condition. It was derelict for some time but I believe some attempts were made to restore it. Anyone know anything about this place? The same architect (Thomas Hopper) did work at Slane Castle and also designed the gothic conservatory at Carlton house. could Smyth have done some stucco at Slane?
Smyth’s descendants continued to work as monumental sculptors based in North Brunswick St. ,later Pearse St, down to the 1930’s. The last member of the family I see mentioned repaired the statue of Liberty over the Bank of Ireland (portico at Westmoreland St. side) in 1946. He restored her rod and cap which had disappeared in 1803. Look for Liberty’s cat at her feet when next you pass. This man was George Edward Smyth, great-great grandson of our Custom house man Edward Smyth. I think he may have lived in Sandymount,off St John’s Rd. towards the end of his life. There must be members of this family still around. It would be very exciting to track them down.How fascinating, thanks very much for your extensive reply. Very interesting about the decendants of the Smyths!
It’s funny that the manner in which Edward followed Gandon round like a sheep was replicated with John and Johnston!The early 19th century often comes across as so much more interesting a time to be working in architecture and sculpting – projects are much more varied in style and scale than the late 18th century – often ‘refinement’ commissions rather than grand set pieces as before; adding a new wing on here, an extension there, improving streetscapes with carved ornament and new bridges, statuary commissioned to fill empty spaces in public and private buildings, garden follies built, and of course a vast ‘building programme’ of Catholic churches and country houses post-1830.
Sounds a much more interesting time to be working as a prominant architect or artisan, and also why Johnston’s career/portfolio is so fascinating, esp as architect to the Board of Works – he crops up everywhere making well-considered changes to state buildings.Anto,
I also have some [hotographs of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Kanturk, built in 1860 (just four years after the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception) by J. Hyrly and J.J. Callaghan. As I discovered to my horror, not even remote NW Cork is safe from Richard Hurley. The Nuns’ Choir has been converted into a day chapel. It is a scaled down version of the North Cathedral in Cork and of the Augustinian Church in Galway and of St. Mary’s Oratory in Maynooth (minus the Japanese Screen). Does RH have only ONE model in his copy book? It is trotted out with such terrible regularity that one begins to think that it must be getting thin from the photocopying! It was a thrill to discover that the gates on the altar rail (which survived because of a mass rebellion in Kanturk at the suggestion of their demolition) are by J.G. McGloughlin, Dublin who also provided for the Honan Chapel; and Cobh Cathedral. The Church is poorly maintained and in need of attention. This is somewhat strange as the Parish Priest, Canon John Terry, is chairman of the Historic Church Commission of the Diocese of Cloyne. If the state in which he maintains the church in Kanturk is anything to go by, then we can understand just why he recommended Cathal O’Neill’ outragous proposal for St. Colman’s Cathedral. Will post pictures soon.
Re. #442
Re Gosfort Castle. I found this interesting piece today.The cost of building Gosford Castle
The cost incurred in the building of Gosford Castle was an alleged £80,000 (not a surprising figure, in view of the size and quality of the building). Lord Gosford had married Mary, daughter and heiress of Robert Sparrow of Worlingham Hall, Beccles, Suffolk, and the Norman style – of which there are a number of genuine East Anglian examples – may have been her idea. It was also probably her money which in large part financed the venture.
In spite of this, money and other difficulties beset the commission and Lord Gosford did not hesitate to express his dissatisfaction. In response to his recriminations about workmanship and bills, and his insensitive reference to a rival architect, William Playfair (who had been working at Drumbanagher, near Newry, Co. Armagh), Hopper replied sadly, in January 1834: ‘… I suspect it did not cost him one hundredth part the thought, and but a small portion of the trouble, which I took to try to make Gosford Castle as convenient and as good as I wished it to be. … I have always felt a sorrow that I ever went to Ireland. I now consider it a misfortune …’. After Hopper’s death in 1856, the work was continued by George Adam Burn (who had been employed under Hopper since 1853).Lord Gosford’s relations with his wife, as well as with Hopper, may have been affected by the strains of castle-building. The couple separated, and Lady Gosford went back to live at Worlingham, where she died some years before her husband in 1841. The story is told that, on its return journey to Co. Armagh for burial in the family vault at Mullaghbrack, her coffin was mislaid by the drunken servants whom Lord Gosford had sent to fetch it, and was conveyed by train to somewhere in the Midlands. At some time after her death, the Worlingham estate was sold.
The following was posted by Jason Diamond on 8/12/01 at this site
http://www.castles.org/qa/messages/1104.htmlIs anyone interested in helping save one of the most important and biggest castles in Ireland? The first example of the Norman Revival in the British Isles and once housing one of the greatest book collections in Ireland (many of the books now in the Pierpont Morgan Library NY)the castle is now derelict and in a perilous state. We have formed a Building Preservation Trust to save Gosford but need all the support we can get. Anyone interested can contact me, Secretary of the Gosford Castle Trust, at the above e-mail address.
You also hear him speak a little about the Castle at http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/community/thisplace/regions/armagh.shtml
Mosaics from the chancel of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Charleville, Co. Cork
Charleville church is not aligned because of its location. The chancel is at the west end of the church. The entire west wall is covered with an incredibly elaborate mosaic of the Coronation of Our Lady divided into three main sections:
1. Ground level to the string course below the west window showing: subdivided into two sections: a. an arcade in mosaic work rising to about four feet (now unfortunately submerged since tons of concrete were poured into the chancel floor to raise the level); b. above the arcade, three panels; one to the left of the alter dipecting the tree of knowledge, supported by two of the tetramorphe; a panel behind the altar which is of geometric sections; and a thrid panel to the right of the altar depicting the Rosa Mystica held up by the other two tetramorphe.
2. The second section occupies the entire area above the lower window string course up to the attic which is not occupied by the west window. It consists of two monumental figures. On the left, Christ seated in majesty (with all of the attributes that we have spoken about in relation to medieval tympana); and on the right Our Lady, similarly seated in majesty, depicted in pose of humility.
3. The attic above the west window is occupied by three roundels; on the left, the monogram for Christos; the middle depicting God the Father and the Holy Ghost; the left depicting the monogram of Maria.
The High Altar is of the best quality Carrara marble and, mercifully, has managed to avoid demolition (so far). The antependium has a very finely worked panel depicting Leonardo’s Last Supper. Unlike nearby Kilmallock, nobody thought of knocking off the finials of the fleurions on the reredos.
The preservation of the interior of Charleville Church through all of the iconoclasm of the 1970s and 1980s is due to the enlightened and cultivated Parish Priest, Canon Dan Murphy, who gallantly resisted the huns at the door and all pressure from the “liturgical establishment” until overtaken by old age. His successor, Seamus Corkery, wrecked the interior of this fine church by extending the sanctuary towards the nave and increasing the floor level which was then paved, incredibly, with black limestone flags. Worst of all, the Sacred Heart Chapel to the right of the main sanctuary was gutted, its altar stripped out, its magnificent floor in red mosaic (reminiscent of the floor of the Sacred Heart Chapel in Cobh Cathedral) partially concreted and totally obscured by a carpet. It was converted to a baptistry which has since seen its font moved elsewhere in the church, rendering the entire exercise a mindless act of vandalism. In recent times, the statue of the Sacred Heart that originally stood on the praedella of the altar in the chapel has found his way back from obscurity but has been planked on a floor of the chapel. The whole thing looks stupid. The pulpit is believed to be in a local barn. The ornamental brass gates of the mortuary chapel (probably by McGloughlin) now adorn the shop frontage of a public house on the main street of Charleville. Again, it is easy to understand why the Historic Church Commission of the diocese of Cloyne could have recommended Cathal O’Neill’s savagery for Cobh Cathedral when the wrecker of Charleville Church, Seamus Corkery, was a member of that committee and made the recommendation to vandalize the interior of St. Colman’s Cathedral. Probably the most devastating thing to happen in Charleville was the destruction of the mosaic floor of the chancel which was of the same standard and an intergral part of the overall decorative scheme of the sancturary of the church.
The west window (chancel window) in Charleville was erected in October 1900 and depicts the Triumph of the Cross, and its consequent rewarding of good and punishment of evil. St. Michael the Archangel holds the scales with the souls of the virtuous (the less material souls) in the upper pan, while the damned, weiged down by material things are in the lower pan of the scales. The same idea is to be found in Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgment (1443-1451) in the hospice of the Hotel-Dieu at Beaune in Burgundy. The window may have be made by Clarke’s of Dublin as much of the rest of the glass in Charleville was.
Here are the monumental figures of the second range of the mosaic on the west wall of the chancel of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Charleville, Co. Cork. This section of the wall is divided between these two figures and the window.
The Sunday Business Post
http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid=10844-qqqx=1.aspObviously, something is moving in an Bord Pleanala. In addition to the article mentioned by Paul Clerkin, the Sunday Independent of today (8 January 2006) published the following article by Jerome Reilly.
Pope’s letter published in Irish local newspaper
ALETTER from Pope Benedict that, bizarrely, found its way into the columns of the Carlow Nationalist newspaper 10 years ago may become a trump card for those trying to stop building work at one of Ireland’s most famous cathedrals, in Cobh, Co Cork.
At the time he was merely a cardinal in Rome, but His Eminence Joseph Ratzinger was an increasingly close confidant of the already frail Pope John Paul, and his own reputation within the Catholic hierarchy was on the rise.
But despite onerous responsibilities at the centre of ecclesiastical power, Cardinal Ratzinger was still keeping a close eye on the pages of the Nationalist.
The 1996 correspondence was unearthed by the Friends of St Colman’s Cathedral (FOSCC), a lobby group bitterly opposed to a redesign of the interior proposed by Bishop John Magee of Cloyne.
Adrian O’Donovan, one of those opposed to any change in the Cobh cathedral’s architecture, told the Sunday Independent last week: “We believe that the letter from Cardinal Ratzinger, now His Holiness Pope Benedict, supports our claim that there is no liturgical or theological reason to change the interior.”
An Bord Pleanala is dueto give its decision on anappeal relating to theredesign within days butthe controversy which has deeply divided the diocese could yet end up in the civil courts.
The matter has led to some opponents threatening to boycott church services within the diocese of Cloyne if the redesign goes ahead.
The cathedral dominates Cork harbour but a bitter nine-year row has rumbled on over the bishop’s plans to renovate the interior of the structure designed by Edward W Pugin and George Ashlin. More than 30,000 signatures have been collected in a petition opposed to the changes, which include the expansion and extension of the existing sanctuary – and the relocation of the bishop’s chair to a more central location.
Bishop Magee and his clergy believe the changes are essential to bring the cathedral in line with Vatican II changes to the liturgy.
But Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter, published in full in the Carlow Nationalist, appears to question this.
In 1996 there was a similar controversy at Carlow Cathedral over the dismantling of the high altar proposed by Bishop Laurence Ryan. Opponents claimed that Cardinal Ratzinger held the view that changes to church interiors were not mandatory under Vatican II, and Bishop Ryan subsequently wrote to the cardinal seeking confirmation. The reply from Cardinal Ratzinger to the bishop remained secret until a High Court judge hearing a subsequent court case asked that the letter be produced in court, and it was then published in the Nationalist.
The letter from Cardinal Ratzinger to the bishop shows he was aware of the war of words in the letters page of the local newspaper.
“Thank you for your letter of April 18 in which you ask for a clarification of certain observations attributed to me by Mr Michael Davies in a letter recently published by a local newspaper in your diocese,” the man who was to become Pope responded.
“It is certainly true that a great number of churches since the Second Vatican Council have been re-arranged; such changes, while inspired by the liturgical reform, cannot however be said to have been required by the legislation of the church,” he wrote.
But like all theological matters the letter could be open to another interpretation. Cardinal Ratzinger adds: “In conclusion, it is the right and duty of the local bishop to decide on these questions and, having done so, to help the faithful to come to an understanding of the reasons for his decision. Trusting that this explanation proves helpful to you in your particular circumstances and with an assurance of kind regards, I remainsincerely yours in Christ, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.”
Jerome Reilly
It’s an interesting case – to what extent will ABP take on board liturgical concerns I wonder?
How do they decide/how are they in a position to decide (presuming they consider it at all)) as to whether the reordering is necessary or not?So the soundbite continues to reign supreme in the Irish media… 🙂
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Charleville, Co. Cork
The picture below illustrates the mosaic of the north wall of the (unaligned) Chancel. The inscription is taken from line Psalm 41, line 1, and reads: “Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum”, an obvious reference to the Cross.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Charleville, Co. Cork.
The south wall of the (unaligned) chancel.
The Curch of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Charleville, Co. Cork.
Chapel of the Sacred Heart, to the north of the Chancel showing mosaic work and the Sacristy door.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Charleville, Co. Cork.
The Sacred Heart Chapel.
The picture illustrates the devastation practised on this finely decorated chapel. The votive altar has been demolished. A very inappropriate badly cut lime-stone frame has been placed around the location of the original altar. In the reordering carried out under Seamus Corkery, this chapel was converted into a baptistry. The baptistry has now been located eleswhere and the chapel is redundant. The floor has been carpeted and the original highly decorated mosaic floor totally obliterated by the carpet. When the statue of the Sacred Heart returned, it was abandoned on the floor. SO far, there is no trace of the original altar .
Some external shots of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Charleville, Co. Cork. The massing of the building is seen to best effect arriving into Charleville from the east. According to the foundation stone, layed on the 16 Kalends of October 1898, the architect is M.A. Hennessey who is also responsible for the completion of the spire of the Redemptorist church in Limerick. the church was largely finished by 1900. The glass in the side aisles is by the Clarke Studios, Dublin, and seems to have been installed c.1915. The bust of Christ in the tympan of the main door is loosly modelled on Guido Reni’s Christ crowned with thorns, which in turn is taken from the same Guido’s depictions of the Crucifixions currently in the Galleria Estense in Modena (1639) and in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome (1678).
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