reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches
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De Mortuis Nihil Nisi Bonum
Death of Dr Richard Hurley, Design Architect
for Restoration of St. Mel’s Cathedral
Many people were deeply shocked by the sudden
death on Tuesday, 6th of December of Dr. Richard
Hurley. Among those very deeply and immediately
affected are ourselves, especially those in
very regular contact with him in planning for the
restoration of St. Mel’s Cathedral on which he has
been engaged since he was employed here in 2010.
His death has deprived us of the services which he
was still to give us. Our loss is great. Of course, the
feeling of loss and sadness that we are experiencing
are of a different kind from those of his wife,
Bernardine, and their sons whose distress must be
intense. We deeply sympathise with them.
Richard Hurley was involved with us here many
years ago when the sanctuary of St. Mel’s was
reordered to accommodate the new style of celebration
of the liturgy. While he was no longer involved
when that work on the Cathedral was completed,
his original plan was clearly reflected in
the end product. It had stood the test of time very
well until it was destroyed by the fire of Christmas
Day 2009. Richard entered the scene again last
year when he was an enthusiastic applicant for
the role of architect for the current restoration.
When awarded the key role of Design Architect, he
expressed his delight in being back again. At that
time he promised me with the utmost confidence
that he would achieve the best possible outcome.
As soon as agreement was reached with the other
partner architectural firm involved, Fitzgerald
Kavanagh and Partners, he threw all his energies
into the Association’s mammoth task of agreeing a
programme for the restoration. Since then he has
continued untiringly to press on and meet targets.
He was a man in a hurry and the speed with which
he delivered his plans would have done credit to a
man of half his age.
He delivered his last presentation to the Diocesan
Art and Architecture Committees on the 16th of
November. When he said it was his last, he meant
that this would be the one which would be the
final part of his outline of his vision for the restoration.
He had no idea that it would also be his last
in a more final sense still. As so often happens in
life when we see someone for the last time, as he
concluded the presentation he just checked the
time that he would need to get to the train and
said ‘good-bye’, neither he nor we having any idea
that we would not meet again on earth.
We have now lost our Design Architect but not the
plans he had so carefully prepared for us. He had,
I would like to think, a sense of great satisfaction
in reaching the end of the planning phase. I would
like to think that achieving this stage in this particular
project has somehow rounded off the long
and fruitful career of Ireland’s best and known
and greatly respected Church architect. I would
like to think that this last of the 150 or so major
projects of his life meant more to him than most.
He had given it his full concentration and brought
to it the experience of a lifetime as architect and
the insight of many liturgists, of whom the late
Father Sean Swayne, Director of the Centre for
Pastoral Liturgy in Carlow, was the foremost. I am
very touched by the fact the Diocese of Ardagh and
Clonmacnois has just benefited in the double from
the mature and experienced Richard Hurley, doyen
of Church architects in Ireland. He was Design Architect
for the splendidly restored St Mary’s Church
in Carrick-on-Shannon which was completed last
year and has left us with the plans for St. Mel’s
Cathedral.
Many people in Longford met him when we had
our Open Day on the 18th of September last. He
was at the Cathedral Centre in the morning and
afternoon and spoke with anyone who sought
to speak to him about the model and the draft
plans for the Cathedral on display. He was easily
recognisable with his imposing presence, tall in
stature and impressive in appearance. His gracious
manner and willingness to listen to everyone must
still be remembered, I believe. He stayed for a long
time greeting and talking to people, a tiring exercise
in itself but something to which he attached
great importance.
I have known Richard Hurley for a very long time.
In recent times it was good to have reason to meet
with him very often. He was a truly an inspirational
man, a man of deep faith and integrity. He was
a man who has left a great legacy of fine work in
the design of churches and other buildings of note.
Among his writings is the beautifully illustrated
Irish Church Architecture. We have good reason to
be grateful that part of his legacy will enrich us. It
is my confident hope that when St. Mel’s Cathedral
has been restored his contribution will be seen as
his final gift not just to us but to the nation as well.
+Colm O’ReillyThe late Richard
Hurley – A Man
with a Simple VisionThe lead architect for the
project to restore St. Mel’s
Cathedral had a simple vision,
“The new St. Mel’s
will say something about
Longford to the nation”, the
late Richard Hurley outlined
his views in a lengthly interview
last Christmas. The
man behind Richard Hurley
& Associates Architects was
no stranger to the Cathedral
during the 1970’s as he had
worked with then Bishop Cahal
B. Daly to develop a new
sanctuary and altar.
But at the beginning of
this month, the man with vision
for “the new St. Mel’s”
as he called it, sadly died,
suddenly. He passed away
hours after falling ill at a
meeting which was discussing
important aspects of how
the newly renovated building
would look.
He insisted that “St. Mel’s
should be returned totally to
what it was before the fire
with the exception of the interior
furnishings and liturgical
layout”. As an architect
of renowned liturgical and
ecclesiastical experience he
had a right to hold that view;
it was his work that resulted
in the main altar and other
aspects of the Cathedral as
most people remember them
until the fire struck, for it was
principally his design. A nationally
recognised expert on
church and Cathedral restoration,
it will be reassuring for
many that the vision the late
Richard Hurley set out will
be central to the new building.
He said last year that he
feels he knows the Cathedral
as he put it himself “like the
back of my hand”.
Mr. Hurley wanted the
new layout to “change the
relationship between the
church and its congregation”
and he said he felt that
“must be reflected in the
new design”. During a conversation
which was meant
to principally about his design
of the new building, his
knowledge of the Catholic
Church, its traditions and
its somewhat changing role
in Irish society was very apparent.
Mr. Hurley said that
liturgically he wanted to
bring the Cathedral and its
new sanctuary up to date and
forward looking for the rest
of the century. The new layout
needing what he called
a new “liturgical intervention”.
Effectively what he
meant was that the altar and
sanctuary as it was known
is unlikely to resemble any-
<
The late Richard
Hurley – A Man
with a Simple Vision
thing the new Cathedral will
feature.
That is now the case and
the new altar will be located
further down the body of the
Cathedral. Even last December
as he was drafting and
considering how the new Cathedral
would look he said the
sanctuary should be “moved
further down the nave of the
Cathedral and closer to the
people”. He had the view that,
“liturgically the sanctuary is
the centre point, the placing
of the altar is the beginning
and after than everything
else will fall into place.” He
spoke of relocating the Bishop’s
Chair to what he calls a
“less judicial position, most
likely on the side of the sanctuary”,
reflecting the modern
change in how the church and
its hierarchy interact with its
people.
We now have a much
clearer image of what the
new Cathedral will look like.
Richard Hurley was from the
outset insistent that most of
the main features of the old
Cathedral would be fully
restored including, “the colouring
of the old building,
plaster work, statues, shrine
chapels and all aspects of
the stone work, including the
columns which are an integral
and important part of
the architecture of the building”.
One year on, the first
of the replacement columns
is already in place, an exact
replica of what went before.
Skilled plasterers have put
in place a small section of
plasterwork re-creating what
many thought would never
be restored.
Richard Hurley had this
vision and was insistent that
the views of the congregation
and local people would play
a key role in his design. “The
new St. Mel’s will say something
about Longford to the
nation, so as well as consulting
the various stakeholders
dialogue and discussion with
the local community will be
essential”. Asked if the views
people express would influence
the final plan Mr. Hurley
said, “of course, this will
be a reinvention of a very
important historical building
and the change in the relationship
between the church
and its congregation must be
reflected in its new design”.
Even before the project has
begun its first significant development,
that consultation
and vision he had is clear to
be seen, from the sketches of
the new Cathedral.
Richard Hurley may not
be alive to see the new building
when it is finally finished,
he may not perfect the
finer touches as any architect
would. But, his stamp, his
vision will undoubtedly be
an integral part of what we
see when the doors of the
restored St. Mel’s are eventually
opened.On Wallpaintings in English Churches
The Cathedrals and Church Buildings Library
Online Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1850
http://www.henry-moore.org/hmi/library/biographical-dictionary-of-sculptors-in-britain
Famous fresco by Clarke goes on display in Donegal
A famous fresco painted by the country’s greatest acknowledged stained glass artist, Harry Clarke, and which had been hidden for decades at a County Donegal Cathedral, was finally unveiled this week.
The fresco of an angel had been left hidden for decades under several layers of paint at the back of the altar at Saint Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny and was by unveiled after restoration works costing €700,000 were recently completed.
Restorer Ruth Rothwell said, “The discovery of the painting was a very welcome find.”
“We suspected that something might be there. Over the years, the gold leaf and bright colours went out of fashion and were painted over. It was a slow and painstaking job but it was really worth it in the end when we discovered the painting and started to restore it.
“In total, it took three months to restore the painting, most of which was spent removing six layers of paint. Once this was done paint analysis was carried out to discover the exact colours used in the original painting so we could reproduce those.”
According to Ms Rothwell, it is believed that the painting was, “painted on a canvass at Harry Clarke’s studio in Dublin and then stuck onto the Cathedral wall using a rabbit skin glue.”
It is also believed that much of the paint used was a gold Italian colour.
Commenting on the find, local curate Fr Eammon Kelly said, “It looked lovely and we didn’t know whether it had been destroyed or not. We are delighted that it has been uncovered and it really adds to what has been an absolutely beautiful restoration.”
Directory of Stained Glass in Wales
Richard Hurley
The following was recently published in New Liturgy:
The following spoken by Fr Jones at the introduction to the Funeral Mass recalls Richard’s life-long contribution to church art and architecture.
“Richard’s strong, Christian faith found a marvellous expression in his chosen profession. Church architecture and Richard have been a wonderful story since the 1950s. As a young architect he was a member of the Church Exhibitions Committee of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. That would lead to membership of the newly established panel on church art and architecture of the Bishops’ Commission for Liturgy, formed during the Second Vatican Council and then becoming in 1965 the Advisory Committee on Sacred Art and Architecture. Richard was a member of that commission for over forty years, serving as its chairperson for nine years, after the death of his great friend, Mgr Seán Swayne. Both, around the same age, were mentors to one another, but not simply Seán offering the liturgical perspective and Richard expressing that in architectural terms. Both were persons of liturgy and architecture, for worship has to be expressed in the human condition, by the human spirit and body.
Richard has also served for many years as a member of our Dublin Diocesan Art and Architecture Commission.
For over a half a century, with passion, Richard engaged in the work of design and colour. He worked to high standards, sometimes disappointed by our failure to work to a vision captured in the Second Vatican Council, not just in the 1960s and times past, but also today when so many want to revert to a past long gone.
Richard often quoted Rudolf Schwarz, allowing me to note the influence on him of German Church Architecture of the 1920s onwards: ‘For the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, a moderately large well-proportioned room is needed, in its centre a table, and on the table a bowl of bread and a cup of wine. The table may be decorated with candles and surrounded by seats for the congregation. That is all. Table, space and walls make up the simplest church.’ Richard spent a life, with great passion, designing that simplest church, from the Arts Council awarded, single cell prayer room of the Bettystown Oratory of the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1963 to the work on which he was engaged on the day he died, St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford. In between were many projects, cathedrals in Cork and Eldoret, churches, old and new in Dublin, Galway, Belfast and elsewhere in Ireland and England, special places like the Mercy International Centre, the Honan Chapel and Glencairn Abbey, the two places where I have been privileged to worship, almost daily, for almost twenty five years: the Liturgy Room in Carlow and St Mary’s Oratory at Maynooth.
The iconic Liturgy Room, a large well-proportioned room, ‘the great room of the house,’ ‘the layout … orientated towards an informal antiphonal gathering surrounding a central area focused on the altar,’ ‘a development of the idea of the family gathering around the table.’ Still using Richard’s own words, ‘ Everything in the room … a shade of white –wall, floor, ceiling, light fittings and carpet. The only colour added … the sap green of the fig tree in the corner … the oak furnishings and a terracotta Madonna and Child by Benedict Tutty.’ All of this, with ‘the limitations of the materials,’ providing ‘fertile soil for the growth of spiritual freedom.’
And St Mary’s Oratory in Maynooth College. Again in Richard’s favourite and preferred antiphonal layout. For those of us who worship there on weekdays, it provides the space for prayer and reflection. Richard’s re-ordering –in the ‘noble simplicity’ of the Second Vatican Council- complemented by the art of its time –he had a great respect for our heritage- and our time –the stained glass and the earlier work of Benedict Tutty and the newer work of Patrick Pye, Imogen Stuart, Ken Thompson and Kim En Joong, gives us each day our place to encounter God and celebrate the sacred mysteries.
If I mention the names of certain artists, it is to highlight the importance of their place in worship –a place that Richard never forgot. There are many other names because Richard knew the beauty that the artist could contribute. All of this ensuring that the Church is here, in the words of his great friend, Austin Flannery, ‘to serve humankind in a spirit of poverty, humility and love.’
Some said ‘stark,’ ‘minimalist’ and Richard might have said, speaking from experience, ‘it works.’ Richard gave his opinion, his preference, with a certainty. And so often he was perfectly right. Honoured by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Pontifical University of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Today by many colleagues, architects and artists.
Richard brought us on a journey. He used that word in explaining his designs. With masterly use of light, with simple design, with every shade of white, with the beauty of art, we were on a journey. We were led always and further within the space. We were led to prayer and worship. Ultimately we were led to God.
Kilanerin, Co. Wexford
Some good news of a wonderful re-constitution of the paint scheme of Kilanerin church:
http://www.kilanerin.com/history-church_dedication_booklet.html
PUGIN BICENTENARY
Finally, something to mark the bicentenary of A.W.N. Pugin’s birth which will be celebrated next Thursday, 1 MArch 2012.
The Irish Architectural Archive has organised an exhibition which will be opened next Thursday:
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
will open an exhibition of drawings by
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
from the Irish Architectural Archive
marking the bicentenary of his birth.PUGIN BICENTENARY
Lecture Series
During March the Irish Architectural Archive will host a lecture series on Pugin
Lecture Series
Thursday 1st March at 1.15pm
The A.W.N. Pugin Nuremberg sketchbook of 1838 in the Irish Architectural Archive
and an overview of the role of the Pugins in Ireland
Dr Roderick O’Donnell, FSAThursday 8th March at 1.15pm
Pugin and the Gothic Revival
Dr Christine Casey, Trinity College DublinTuesday 13th March at 1.15pm
Gothic Nuremburg
Dr Lynda Mulvin, University College DublinThursday 15th March at 1.15pm
A.W.N. Pugin and St Patrick’s College Maynooth
Dr Frederick O’Dwyer, Architect and Architectural HistorianThursday 22nd March at 1.15pm
Pugin, Ritual and Design
Dr John Maiben Gilmartin, Art Historian, Academic and LecturerThursday 29th March at 1.15pm
Restoring Pugin’s Heritage in Ireland – Experiences of a Conservation Architect
Michael Tierney, Conservation ArchitectAll lectures are free and open to the public and take place in
the Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Square, DublinSt Mel’s Cathedral Longford
Press Release – Monday 27 February 2012 – Immediate
Attn: Newsdesks, Photodesks and Religious Affairs Correspondents
Statement by Bishop Colm O’Reilly concerning the tender process for the organ restoration of Saint Mel’s Cathedral
The following statement has been issued by Bishop Colm O’Reilly, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, concerning the tender process for the organ restoration of Saint Mel’s Cathedral, Longford:
“When Saint Mel’s Cathedral experienced a catastrophic fire on the night of Christmas Eve/Christmas morning 2009, I immediately made a public commitment that our beloved Cathedral would be rebuilt.
“Today I reaffirm this commitment and in doing so I wish to state that, arising from the trust which has been placed in me in my role as bishop, I have a key responsibility to lead this significant project in the most transparent and cost effective manner possible. Within these parameters, it is my intention that the rebuilding of Saint Mel’s, and all that lies within, must be completed to the highest possible standard in order that it will appropriately serve the faithful of Longford, our diocese and the country as a major place of Catholic worship.
“The restoration and future of Saint Mel’s Cathedral depends on the trust and support of the faithful. In order to safeguard this trust, responsible and sometimes difficult decisions are necessary to uphold the common good. In this regard I have received, over the last number of days, a formal representation from a Dáil deputy (see below), and separately media questions, both querying the awarding of the contract to rebuild the organ of Saint Mel’s Cathedral to the specialist Fratelli Ruffati of Padua, Italy. In this context I wish to place the following on the public record:
On the basis of the tender submitted, the committee established to oversee the organ tendering process recommended that the contract be offered to Fratelli Ruffati on the basis of musicality, design of the organ and value for money. A letter of intent has been issued. There will be a cost saving of over €30,000 by going with the Fratelli Ruffati tender.
The committee established to deal with the organ tendering process included the best expertise available in Ireland: it was chaired by Professor Gerard Gillen and included Dr John O’Keeffe (Maynooth) and Fintan Farrelly, the Saint Mel’s Cathedral organist, as members. In addition to these musical experts the acclaimed church architect, the late Dr Richard Hurley, was a member until his passing last December. I, along with Father Sean Casey (Cathedral Project Committee) and Gerard Neville (Punch Consulting Engineers), were also on this committee.
Three firms who gave expressions of interest were invited to submit plans and they also gave an oral presentation. All did so and each was heard for over an hour.
“On behalf of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois I must be accountable for every cent received and spent in the interest of the faithful. Where possible employment contracts are awarded to Irish sub-contractors but, regardless of external pressures, I would be failing in my duty if I did not take value for money and quality of finished product into account.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who are deeply concerned and strongly supportive of the work that we are endeavouring to do to rebuild Saint Mel’s Cathedral.”
ENDS
It’s not accurate that Jones is the only organ building firm in Ireland. Additionally, jones did not build the original organ, their instrument only dated from 1982, so the historical argument is questionable also. Good news is that they are going for a pipe organ.
Kenneth Jones is in fact the only company in Ireland capable of designing and making new organs.They are actually the only company with large workshop facilities and highly skilled rescources to carry out such specialist work. They make there own new organs including the custom designed consoles, soundboards, actions, chasis, pedal boards, pipes, organ cases, etc.. Whilst other organbuilders such as Trevor Crowe who has without doubt established credibility for himself in Ireland especially with restoration and rebuilding and is an excellent voicer simply do not undertake such extensive new organbuilding work. Much of his rebuilding work is subcontracted to overseas factory supply firms for many organparts and also manpower. There is no comparison between Kenneth Jones organ firm and other Irish organbuilders many who have either worked or trained under Kenneth Jones organs firm at some point in time. The crux of the matter is we have a responsibilty to ensure the Irish skills and training can continue in ireland. It is the future of the Irish organbuilding craft that is being endangered .
Wonder what the various firms proposals were like? I always felt the previous 2man organ whilst it had an exciting sound, was a little limited in spec for a cathedral organ..
I should clarify I was refering to the republic of ireland. As to the new speciafication this is not transparent as yet and also whether it will be a pure pipe organ as rufatti have partnership with Rodgers electroninc organs and are know for hybrids.
@derekbyrne wrote:
I should clarify I was refering to the republic of ireland.
Really, is not this all becoming very parochial in outlook?
We know that several “foreign” organ builders have built organs in Ireland since the 19th, century on the basis of their reputation. As a matter of interest, has Kenneth Jones built organs outside of Ireland – even the republic of Ireland?
And, is it necessary, as Counsellor Bannion seems to think, that every organ in the country should end up sounding the same?
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