reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches

Praxiteles is very glad to see that the Oratory still has its grille – sometmg that has been stripped out of the Honan Chapel and which Richard “I should have been a liturgist” Hurley wants to replace with a horrible railway-ticjet office glass door – which, with not a little astonishment it must be said, the Conservation Officer for Cork City is reported to regard as as “simple and elegant” in design.

From the look of the altar, I am inclined to think that the predella is not original and has all the prisiness (and ignorance) of the Bord of Works. I suspect that underneat what now seems a sup̬port for a lighting system you will find probably one marble step which is flush with the deign of the floor Рno interrupted by the intruder.

Praxiteles, do you know if the ceiling & walls of the Honan Chapel were ever decorated in the celtic revival manner?

@apelles wrote:

oh dear Lord…WHAT IS THAT???

a psychedelic umbrella perhaps?

This is a daubing on the back wall of St Mary’s Oratory, Maynooth, and is, I believe, iedated by a Korean Dominican who was brought to Richard “I should have been a Liturgist” Hurley’s attention by none other than our deear friend Austin Flannery. Richard I.S.H.B.A.L Hurley was responsible for the latest outrage in ST. Mary’s Oratory. Fortunately for the faith of the few remaining clerical students in Maynooth, it has been closed for the greater part of the year, it appears, because the floor has begun to pop up and and other bits and pieces are beginning to fall off here and there. Obviuosly, Richard I.S.H.BA.L. Hurley did not calculate very well for the water-sogged clay typical of the ground aorund Maynooth College.

Also, St Mary’s is supposed to be Richard I.S.H.BA:L. Hurley’s greatest attempt at the domesticisation of the Church’s liturgy – that is, the attempt to apotheose the grotty irreverence of the coffee table “Mass” once popular among the soixant-huitard revolutionaries of the 1970s whose only airm in life was a marxist type deconstruction of Catholic culture and civilization and its replacement by the favuve (and faux) proletarianism of common place things used as totems for a non-material world nolonger believed in, yet tolerated beacuse of its percieved use a force for social change, but ultimately to be discarded.

When that all became a little too much for the avant-garde “architect” of the 1990s, we find the the same brutal spacialism occupied informed not by anything from the tradition of Western Christianity (which is afterall a bad thing even in advanced marxist quarters) but by belief systems patched together from very ill- (and sometimes mis-) understood Bhuddism – just look at John “I didn’t do it” Lynch’s efforts at ST. Nicholas’ Church in Killavullen.

The only problem about the domestication of religion is that religion, so processed by the sausage maker, tends to loose its objectivity and very quickly take on the particular characteristics of the “Golden Calf” syndrome: the participants in this form of religion just keep making it up as they go along and keep making it up to their own satisfaction.

Over the past 12 months, Praxiteles has observed the arrival of new prophet in matters pertaining to ecclesiastical architecture form, of all places, or perhaps forebodingly, Bloodyforeland. Along with the domesticisation of liturgy, the newcomer on the Richard I.S.H.B.A.L. Hurley’s coterie is much given to grandiose embodiements of the phenomenon – and greatly lauds the monstre in Los Angeles. Praxiteles is awaiting an opportunity to nominate this one for the WIll Dosing prize.

And here we have something interesting: a theology of contemporary church architecture. This, and other postings from the series, should prove interesting reading for the star-gazing wizzards who have spent their lives reading the “signs of the times”.

The introduction to the series:

http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2008/11/series-of-architectural-theology.html

And the next part:

http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2008/11/part-2-architectural-theology-at-new.html

Well, well, here we have the revival of teh serliana altar piece, flanked by two doors and completed with a retro-sacristy.

Some more photographs from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver indicating how the High Altar functions:

Some more photographs of Craig Hamilton’s commission for a private chapel in the North of England:

http://www.craighamiltonarchitects.com/docs2/projects/sacred/chapel/chapel8.html

On the artistic coordination of the decoration of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Wisconsin, USA:

http://www.anthonyvisco.com/

@Praxiteles wrote:

Well, it is that time of year once again – time to make annual returns to the Companies Registration Office. And being the good little boys they are, the Cobh Cathedral Restoration Fund and the Cobh Cathedral Trust duly and punctually handed in their sums books to the head master this year.

Some interesting first headliners:
a. no new directors have been appointed in the last 12 months. This comes as no surprise – especialy as no respectable business man in the Cok area with a modicum of PR savy would want to have anything to do with this particular company and with the “glory” in which it has covered itself;

b. this company must have the oldest set of directors in the WORLD – you will notice that one is 88, another is 79, another is 77, another is 73 and so on.

c. funds transferred tot he reserve fund barely reached Euro 8K – interesting.

d. most income is generated from bank interest.

e. at present roughly about 1, 110, 000 Euro is on hand.

g. pecularily, we learn that there has been a shift away from “restoration” to “maintenance” – no doubt urged on the the collapse of portion of the south arcade;

h. funds are now going to be raised for completion of the “restoration” – I wonder does that mean a funds are now t be raised to attempt another wreck job on the sanctuary?

As soon as Praxiteles can conduct a thorough analysis, we shall have more interesting observations. In the mean time, happy reading!

One would have to wonder how the Investment figure is arrived at…. presumably as with everything else in the current market, pensions etc…it has taken quite a hammering. . There would appear to have been some move too from a Charicash investment account to a Standard.? Investment Account…?

A veritable treasure arrived with this morning’s post to Praxiteles – an anonymous letter containing a copy of a recent encyclical letter send to all and sundry by Danny “I AM a liturgist” Murphy. While, for the most part, it contains the usual drivil, our “liturgist” friend does however hazard an official – or quasi official – assessment not only of the famous Ballincollig Conference held on 3 October 2008 but also of the Conference held in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin by the Department of the Environment and featuring, it would seem, “a member of AN Bord Pleanala” who commented, it appears, in extenso, on the Bord’s decision in relation to Cobh Cathedral. The encyclical letter is also useful in that it makes reference to “a joint County Council – Cloyne HACK group” and apparently representatives of projects at Ballintotis, Aghada, Glanworth, Castletownroche and Ballyhooly were also discussed. We are also told “there is work to be done in collating the conclusions and matters arising from the Conferences in Ballincollig and Dublin on planning matters and places of worship and, also, with informing matters regarding the REORDERING of St. Colman’s Cathedral and other churches“.

Here are some of the of the more relevant bits of the encyclical letter:

@samuel j wrote:

That section of PDF, makes interesting and worrying reading.
What planet are these lads living on…… I love the use of misleading the public:eek:

Who was misleading who again…… ah now lads, wake up and smell the coffee, will ye for godsake… 🙁

Fair bit of denial and delusion going on if you ask me…:mad:

The question of who was misleading the public is an interesting one – especially when one considers the perspective offered in this account of the Dublin Conference organised by the Department of the Environment. The impression is clearly given that criticism was made of persons or groups who do not share the liturgical outlook of the Cloyne HACK. In those circumstamces, an organ of the State, you would imagine, would have ensured, in the interest of fair play and impartiality, that such persons or groups would have been afforded the possibility of replying to that criticism.

Praxiteles seems to think that the time has come to deploy the Freedom of Information Act on the Department in order to ascertain exactly what was said and who was criticised or represented as misleading the public.