Rock of Cashel stone conservation restoration
- This topic has 51 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 5 months ago by
.
- Posts
Pictures taken June12, 07;
Anyone with knowledge of the care and maintenance of medieval stonework, I would love to hear your opinions on this;
Cormac’s chapel.
The restoration of the exterior which involved removing crude inserted (window?) holes punched into the south facade was done to the highest standards; left; an arch left of the doorway- right; a restored replica arch right of the doorway;
[ATTACH]4980[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4981[/ATTACH]
As you can see the original stone is very badly worn. The east end was also impeccably restored;
[ATTACH]4982[/ATTACH]
It looks as fine as the original work! .
[ATTACH]4983[/ATTACH]
if you can’t see it in the picture, a gutter is running along the edge of the roof there into the drain pipe.
I thought this on the south side of the sanctuary was a bit crude;
[ATTACH]4984[/ATTACH]
This window being better
[ATTACH]4985[/ATTACH]
A sign in the chapel explains that there are still problems with the paintings in the sanctuary, which despite the conservation work are still deteriorating-.The situation is being monitored- the microclimate of the chapel being studied and so on- I assume they’ve considered the impact of the huge number of tourists breathing in the chapel and all that- though they didn’t mention it.
I would love if someone could answer this question; why is the interior still in this state?
[ATTACH]4986[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]4987[/ATTACH]
Given the importance and marketing of Cashel, I assume it’s not lack of funds or laziness. Why is this problem so hard to solve? Why can’t that white stuff (is it plaster?) whatever it is be removed, and the green growth washed off? What is that orange stain running down the column? Why can’t the building be waterproofed? Here’s a picture of the interior where you can see parts of the stone free of the above; the beautiful sand colour of the stone is apparent
[ATTACH]4988[/ATTACH]
The interior would look sublime if all of the sandstone was so clean, and the vault between the ribs could be freshly plastered. They’ve done alot of great work at cashel but doesn’t the chapel interior deserve a full restoration?The Cathedral;
Recent work on the stone.
[ATTACH]4989[/ATTACH]
I do not know what neccessitated this work. This is an honest question- I’m not trying to be critical; Is this done to the best standards? It strikes me as looking very white and lacking that limestone shine that such ancient rubblework usually has. Is this just temporary? Will it look different after a bit of rain or even a few winters?Ake!
Am I getting this correctly? Are you saying that this piece of crude jobbery has been bunged into the wall of Cormac’s chapel?
@Praxiteles wrote:
Ake!
Am I getting this correctly? Are you saying that this piece of crude jobbery has been bunged into the wall of Cormac’s chapel?
Yes! You think it’s crude? I thought it was ok. I mean what was the alternatve-Previously, I don’t know when, there was just a square hole/window- that I know because I have an old picture of it in a book, maybe I’ll scan that in.
Doe not that awful door just sum it all up? What is a think like that doing in sopt as sacred as Cormac’s chapel? Does anybody in the Board of Works have the slightest clue as to what theya re about? Can you imagine the Italians installing something like that in the Pantheon? For Cormac’s chapel to have survived the ravages of time and history only to succumb to the Board of Works….it is just too, too tragic or perhaps fatal to bear thinking.
The thought strikes me that if the Boar of Works does not know how to look after buildings such as this, then perhaps they might try at little inter-European outsourcing and hire the Italian Beni Culturali to the job for them. Even imaginationless Cobh Town Council copped on to that one when they got themselves an Italian architect – and signs on things seem to be improving a bit since they brought in a competent Italian.
Will you just look at the size of those blocks and the dullard regularity with which they have been heaped on top of each other by a know-nothing. This is something that I would expect to see in Disneyland! One thing is sure: faux romanesque is a million time worse than faux georgian.
That stinks of newness. What was wrong exactly with the window that was there? It was part of the history of the building and they had no right to alter it, unless it was literally falling apart.
Why is there a tacky PVC door in the chapel?
Its just brutal. It reminds me of the time that they sandblasted the whole of Ross castle, and removed hundreds of years of litchens and growth. Are the Board of works out of control?
I hope some journalist is looking at this thread and will do something to highlight the plight of Cormac’s chapel at the hands of the lunatics in the Board of Works – or what ever they call it now. This is so crazy that it defies belief – the Board of Works playing at Humty-Dumty.
Have you ever in all your life seen anything more bathetic than this!! Can you imagine sight like this against the muenster wall in Speyer?
Really that does sum up all that is wrong with modern Ireland 🙁
@Praxiteles wrote:
Ake!
Am I getting this correctly? Are you saying that this piece of crude jobbery has been bunged into the wall of Cormac’s chapel?
Trying to figure out if that wall thingy is merely a trompe-l’oeil….
Silvio Berlusconi would like this; I seem to remember him having plans to rebuild those parts of the Colosseum that lie in ruin!;)Alright, I was trying to be positive but I’ll throw in the towel. Whatever they have done to the exterior, Ireland has plenty of romanesque exteriors left- the inside is virtually unique in the country as an intact romanesque interior with it’s roof still on it- how on earth can it be allowed to remain in the leaking, slimy, filthy state it’s in?! Here’s the chapel in the tower of london;
[ATTACH]5016[/ATTACH]Cormac’s chapel should look more like this, preferably without the furniture. Just compare the wall surface here with the pictures above.
Ake!
Take a look at this link on the Jakobuskirche in Regensburg -with which Cashel had close connections. You will agree that th conservation approach of the Regensburger Denkmalsamt is somewhat different to that of the Board of Works. I am suggesting, that in relation to Cormac’s chapel, the Board of Works be decommissioned and replaced by a pro-consul from regensburger Denkmsalamt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_Monastery,_Regensburg
P.S. I heard recently that the Board of Work are also happily converting Ardfert Cathedral into western Disneyland. Does nayone know anything of their “restoration” efforts there?
Ake!
This is what one would expect to find in Cormac’s chapel were it properly cared for!
@ake wrote:
Whatever they have done to the exterior, Ireland has plenty of romanesque exteriors left.
Thats not the right attitude to take. You can’t say that its OK to knock a street of Georgian buildings in Dublin, just because there’s miles of similar street left. We must preserve all of what we have. Anyway this is one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in Ireland. And I’m not all that sure if there is plenty of the stuff lying around either.
Of course we must preserve all of what we have- which we emphatically DON’T, but the relative importance of the chapel interior must be underlined.
@Praxiteles wrote:
Ake!
P.S. I heard recently that the Board of Work are also happily converting Ardfert Cathedral into western Disneyland. Does nayone know anything of their “restoration” efforts there?
Here’s a picture I found on flickr from september 2006
[ATTACH]5018[/ATTACH]But getting back to Cashel- would you have been at all in favour of the refilling of the holes in the south wall of the chapel under any circumstances?
@Praxiteles wrote:
The thought strikes me that if the Boar of Works does not know how to look after buildings such as this, then perhaps they might try at little inter-European outsourcing and hire the Italian Beni Culturali to the job for them.
Trim castle won a Europa Nostra ‘diploma’ award for ‘the well-researched and excellent restoration of an important 12th century castle ruin, including imaginative new installations’. I’ve been to Trim castle and as far as I can judge the conservation is excellent (leaving aside the hotel..). The architects were ‘Willy Cumming / Kevin O’Brien (Dúchas) with Cloonan O’Donnell Architects’ with ‘Dúchas Works Depot, Trim & J.V.Ledwith Ltd.’ building contractors, according to the EN site.
I’m inclined to think that there are simply not enough quality conservators to go round for all the heritage sites in Ireland. The number of sites is huge, and of course conservation is a perpetual process. Since our small population cannot supply enough workers of the required standard we should definitely be importing other European experts- there must be a surplus in the bloated populations of England, France and Germany.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
