reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches
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p.s Finally, the Pugin Society emerges in the text of this book. Apparently, Roderick O’Donnell was unable to make it to the Midleton Park Oral Hearing but did prepare a paper in support of the Friends of St COlman’s Cathedral. Alexandra Wedgwood also sent a letter of support.
St Bridget’s. Geldorp, Holland (C. Weber, 1889-1891)
C Weber was commissioned to rebuild St Bridget’s in 1887 to replace the medieval church which was returned to Catholic use in 1798 in a ruinous state. The new church was his fourth dome-church. Like St. Bavo’s in Raamsdonk it is a large three-aisled cruciform basilica church in neo-Romanogothic style. The two towers on the west front were not addedin 1895 and were inspired by P.J.H. Cuypers’ Munsterkerk in Roermond.
C. Weber
St. Petrus’ Stoel te Antiochië, Uden, Brabant (1886-1890)
A new church was built, designed by architect C. Weber in Uden in Brabant between 1886 and 1890. The church a three-aisled cruciform basilica type church in Weber’s typical neo-Romanogothic style. The crossing is dominated by an octagonal crossing-tower with dome. The western facade has two octagonal towers. The apses are semi-circular at the end of the choir and transept-arms: The choir apse has an ambulatory. The interior is mostly executed in red brick. Like all the other domed churches designed by Weber, it dominates the landscape and can be seen from a considerable distance.
C. Weber
The Church of St. Bartholomew at Zevenbergschehoek, in Brabant 1886:
Cruciform basilican stylechurch with tall octagonal tower with polygonal dome. Details in Gothic style. Square towers on both sides of the facade. Choir and transepts with three-sided apses. The church was actually too large for this small village, but being located close to the border with Zuid-Holland, near the railroad crossing the border between catholic Brabant and protestant Holland, it had great symbolic value by showing the protestants that despite centuries of oppression, the Catholics were still there. Badly damaged in the Second World War, it was replaced by a new church.
C. Weber 1888-1889
St. Bavo, Raamsdonk, Brabant
In 1888, C. Weber began the construction of a new church in Raamsdonk. This is the current cruciform basilica type church in neo-Romanogothic style with cloverleaf-shaped eastern chancelt, with apses with ambulatories at the choir and the transept-arms. Although the western towers were never finished, this church is regarded as the architect’s finest work.
The tall dome is visible from a long distance. Tthe Germans thretaened to blow it uè during the war but the Parish Priest was able to persuade them otherwise. Unfortunately, the chancel has been destroyed by the liturgists who have installed a highly inappropriate organ in it.@Praxiteles wrote:
Re Cobh Cathedral
I have just come across a very interesting publication to-day. It is a book, published by the FOSCC, in which they outline the case they advanced in favour of Cobh Cathedral at the recent Oral Hearing in Midleton. It makes for some very interesting reading. It is entitled Conserving Cobh Cathedral] and costs a mere Euro 10 with all proceeds going towards defraying legal costs. It is well worth the read!!!
According to The Friends of St. Colman’s Cathedral,
Included in this publication are the submissions from the Friends, An Taisce and the Irish Georgian Society and some of the interesting revelations which emerged during cross-examination at the hearing. Also included is the list of the people whose objections to Cobh Town Council Planning Authority were not read by the Senior Architect who granted planning permission in Sept. 2005. The book cost €10 and is part of a FOSCC fundraising initiative to pay for the costs of the Oral Hearing.
For the USA, the price, including postage, is $15.
I received this yesterday, April 13, from a member of FOSCC:
We heard today that the Irish Planning Board has delayed its decision until May 11th. It was due out tomorrow (April 14th). We are not sure if this is a good sign or not, all we can do now is hope and pray.
Leo Wong
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http://www.MurphyWong.netFor those interested in the work of Ludwig Oppenheimer, I would be inclined to suggest that they visit the parish church in Kenmare, Co. Kerry. It has a magnificent mosaic floor in the sanctuary which can only have been made by Oppenheimer. In many respects, it reflects the same iconographic elements as that of the Sanctuary floor in Cobh Cathedral. It is also interesting to note that the altar rail (which survives) has a magnificent brass gate by J and G McGloughlin of Dublin – the same combination as at Cobh and in the Honan Cahpel in Cork.
Kenmare also has a very interesting hammer-beam ceiling – much reminiscent of ST. Joseph’s in Albany, New York. Fortunately, it has survived in tact – so far.
It was built on a difficult site and required elaborate foundations. It is memorable for its striking location and and wealth of detail. Cobh witnessed the farewells of many thousands of emigrants. It was a major British Army and Naval Base. The emigrants would have seen the many miltary buildings erected for them. They would then have sailed past the prison on Spike Island. As they headed towards Roches Point they would have seen the Cathedral silhouetted against the sky. Then they would have turned towards the open sea and a new life. The sentimental and historic value is the essence of this church and the origional features should remain intact.
Viva la Cork.I agree that Cobh Cathedral has a sentimental/historic value and a wealth of detail. It would however, be completely inadequate to reduce its signicifance to these elements alone. Perhaps more important are its religious and cultural significance. Over the past six months I have been struck by the complete absence of a detailed inventory or academic study of this most important building. WHile many of the studies that have been done are good in themselves they lack the comprehensiveness that a building like Cobh deserves. Also the existing studies are almost excluisively concentrated on English language sources – which in the case of Cobh are always secondary and derivitave. Some of my efforts have touched the only the surface of the cultural depth of the iconographic scheme of the cathedral. Its iconographic prototypical antecedents, as I hope I have been able to indicate in some schematic way, reach right back to the very foundations of European culture and civilisation. The earliest of these from late antiquity being mediated through the Middle Ages -especially in Burgundy – and fianlly in the great Cathedral of Northern France in the gothic age. To this, must be added the “aracheological” researches of A.N. Didron which he publishjed between 1844-and 1871. All of this is behind Cobh Cathedral but to it must be added the peculairly “Irish” twist to the interest in the medieval which was represented by the scholarship of the Celtic Revival. WHile the tympan of the West door in Cobh can trance is iconographic origin to Santa Pudenziana in Rome, and closely resembles St Clothilde in PAris in several respects, the inclusion of figures such as Colman and Ita make a loud statement that all of this cultural inheritance has been “inculturated” in a very particular form, not only in Ireland, but in the locality of the present Cathedral itself.
I cannot tell you how outraged I am that a clown would propose digging out one of the most important floors in the building, atomizing it and using it as salvage WITHOUT ever bothering to know anything of its significance – either cultural or religious. No study has been done on the iconographic scheme of the mosaic work in Cobh. Yet any hooligan is apparently at liberty to walk in and dig holes in the floor with immunity. Clearly, Cobh Town Council is not fit to be in charge of cow-sheds let alone one of the most important monuments in the country.
Good News from the FOSCC: Their book Conserving Cobh Cathedral sold out in tend days. Fiortunately a second printing has now been done and the book is available at multiple outlets in CObh or directly from the FOSCC viz http://www.foscc.com
A variant of the Letterkenny solution has been proposed umteen times to bishop McGhee in Cobh. He will not even consider the possibility of placing a new altar in the sanctuary. It was proposed as recently as the Midleton Oral Hearing. He sat emotionless and listened to the proposal. The body language, however, made it clear that it would not give him sufficient prominence.
In relation to Cobh Cathedral, a decision from An Bord Pleanala is due on Wednesday, 10 May 2006. Let us hope that they get it right.
Word on the grape vine has it that An Bord Pleanala has again deferred a decision on Cobh Cathedral. It seems that nothing will be available untiol at least 17 May 2006. Hmmmmm
I wonder has this anything to do with the further delay by ABP:
http://www.franciscan.edu/home2/Content/main.aspx?id=1984
http://www.catholic.org/prwire/headline.php?ID=1905
And here is another piece of fun:
Re the last article:
“Our plans aren’t always His,†said the Rev. John Magee, bishop of Cloyne, Ireland.
Freudian slip?
The Cobh saga took another twist today. An Bord Pleanala once again failed to come to a decision and has deferred making one until 26 May (i.e. 2006)! Just what can all this mean?
The latest from Cork suggests that the Bishop McGhee of Cloyne is hell bent on erasing every single church in the county. The latest proposed vistim is the rather fine mid-19th century village church of St. Joseph at Liscarroll, near Mallow. Not surprisingly, the same team proposing the wreckage of Cobh Cathedral are now turning their eyes toward Liscarroll. The bright Fr. Danny Murphy is again leading the possé. You will remember that his “liturgical” assessment of Cobh Cathedral was heavily discredited by the London based professional liturgist, Dr. Alcuin Reid, during the Cobh oral hearing. Indeed, it was interesting to note that Murphy was not called by the developers in the Cobh Cathedral case to give evidence on their behalf – a sign of his ability to provide a reasoned argument for the twaddle he went on with to justify and rubber stam the destructuion of the Cathedral interior.
I cannot locate the architect for Liscarroll but he may have been JJ. McCarthy or a pupil of McCarthy’s.
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