reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches
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Something on the company:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Powell_and_Sons
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/James_Powell_and_Sons_(Whitefriars)
http://www.glassfairs.co.uk/Articles/wf-history.html
http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/6440
An example fo their work: a war memorila
Something similar is to be seen in the Honan Chapel in Cork.
Some of their work in Westminster Cathedral:
http://www.westminstercathedral.org.uk/art/art_mosaics_2.html
James Powell and Sons, Whitefriars, London
Another example of their work: The beautiful Whitbourne reredos:
Here is the example of Opus Sectile in the Honan Chapel in Cork: the Honan Monument
The web page of the Tiles and Architectural ceramics Society has mush valuable information relating to all aspects of tiles, mosaics and opus sectile:
The Cathedral of St. Pierre in Poitiers
The West facade:
The tympan of the west door with Christ enthroned in majesty and the Cross prominently displayed on his left – a reference to the connection bewteen Poitiers and the relics of the Cross sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justin II to Queen Radigunda which were received in solemn procession on 19 November 579 – and for which procession Venantius Fortunatus composed the great Latin hymn Vexilla Regis.
The Cathedral of St. Pierre in Poitiers
The tympan of the West doorway. Christ in majesty flanke dby angels holding the instruments of the passion.
Indeed, the massing of the figures is quite similar to that of the tympan of the west door in Cobh Cathedral.
And here is the Cobh Tympan:
And here we have part of the original drawings for the great West door at Cobh Cathedral done by G.C. Ashlin in 1888 and built by Barry McMullan of Cork in 1889. The sculptor of the tympanum was C. W. Harrison for a cost of £687-8-6:
According to F. O’Dwyer, Charles WIlliam Harrison was bon in 1834 at Cottingham in Yorkshire. He may ahve worked on the restoration of Lincoln Cathedral before coming to Ireland for Purdy and Outwaite (of 206 Great Brunswich Street) to work on the Kildare Street Club.
Theo Snoddy (p. 225) tells us that C.W. Harrison was born in 1834 and died in 1903 and employed James Pearse, the father o Padrig Pearse in Great Brunswich Steet. His son, Charles Lloyd Harrison (1858-1913), did much stone work for Ashlin including the panels for the High Altar and pulpit in St. Colman’s Newry – alas in mince condition. He also did work in Cobh Cathedral – so far, still surviving despite the combined “conservation” efforts of the HACK, the Restoration Committee and the Urban District Council and Cork County Council’s Conservation Officer.
And some interesting information on this Harrison family from the Distionary of Irish Architects:
St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
Here we ahve a photograph from teh Lawrence collection taken mid-1890s whowing Harrison’s tympan in situ.
We know that the plans for the west facade were drawn up in 1888 and building was underway in 1889. From this photograph, we can note the coat of arms of the then recently appointed Bishop of Cloyne, Robert Browne -appointed in 1894. So, the photograph is post June 1894 and Harrison’s tympan is then in situ. A further archival excavation should allow us to determine fairly accurately when exactly the tympan was installed.
The three statues at the entrance, including the statue on the trumeau, were subsequently done by Smyth.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
Here is an interesting photograph of the sanctuary in Cobh Cathedral showning the full extent of its amplitude with the “Volksaltar” removed. Indeed, this is probably the best liturgical solution for the sanctuary of Cobh Cathedral and one increasingly recommended by current academic liturgical thinking :
Pulpits were once an integral featue of every major church. They were often elaborate and, in teh French tradition of preaching, were faced by a tribune for the clergy. In the vandalistic iconoclasm of the 1970s and 1980s, with a few rare exceptions, they ahve all but disappeared from Irish churches.
Here are some examples of French 18th. century pulpits happily still in situ thanks to the work of the beaux arts:
The pulpit in the Cathedral of St. André in Bordeaux:
The Marian pulpit in the church of Notre Dame in bordeaux:
The pulpit in the church of St. Michel, Bordeaux
The pulpit in Westminster Cathedral which is large enough to accomodate a cardinal, his cross-bearer and his train-bearer:
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