apelles

I can’t belive I never happened on this site before now,it archives an ecclesiastical decorating company from Dublin & Catalogues many of their design ideas & features many of church’s talked about on this thread, some of the designs are as yet unidentified or may never have been completed.

this is described as [Design for decorative scrolling ornament, including roundels containing images of St Patrick, Christ, the Lion of St Mark, and the angel of St Matthew/I]in St Patrick’s Church,cork

And here we have a Coloured design for decoration of side walls of chancel of Ballaghdereen Cathedral, including diaper-work, designs for window surrounds, roundels containing Angels and Saints, and designs featuring angels with scrolls for the ceiling panels.These ceiling panels were still there this time last year.

here we have an unidentified Coloured design for decorative paint effects for part of chancel and apse.

http://nival.ncad.ie/earley/EC%20155.jpg

This is the archive of one of the largest and most prestigious ecclesiastical decorators in Ireland and the UK which operated out of their office and workshops in Dublin’s Camden Street from 1852-1974. The archive, consisting of 337 design drawings and 30 bound volumes of supporting documentation, was donated by the Earley family to the National Irish Visual Arts Library at the National College of Art and Design between 2002 and 2005. A project to index and digitise the drawings was completed in 2004 and this material made available to the public on the NIVAL website.

http://nival.ncad.ie/about_earley.htm

http://nival.ncad.ie/earley_search.htm click Record Details in orange to bring up a small thumbnail at the bottom of the page then click that to enlarge

About the Earley & Company Archives
There are 337 drawings in the collection, executed in pen and ink or pencil with watercolour on paper. The designs are for stained glass, altarpieces, baptisteries and pulpits, as well as decorative and figurative designs for walls and ceilings. The collection also contains some documentary photographs.

Earley & Company originated as Earley and Powells in Dublin in 1864. The firm was one of the largest and most prestigious ecclesiastical decorators both in Ireland and the U.K. The company secured its prominence through its versatility in being able to produce sculpture, painted decoration, glass and metal work, and through its well-established links with the Catholic hierarchy. All the designs in this collection have come from the company’s premises at 1, Upper Camden Street where they were based until 1975. During the period of their operation, the firm designed and executed a very large number of projects for churches in Ireland and England , with a few commissions from Australia and the United States .

The majority of the designs are for stained glass windows and altars, and this reflects the emphasis of the company’s activities and the most popular commissions. Most of the drawings date from the earliest periods when the company was run by Thomas Earley (1819-1893) and his nephews John Bishop Earley (1856 -1935) and William Earley (1872-1956). There are very few drawings from the firm’s activities of the later period.

The designs are highly finished and appear to have been used for display to prospective clients. There are few actual working drawings or cartoons.

The designs are rarely personally credited. Some may contain initials or a signature, but the majority are signed ‘Earley & Powells’ or ‘Earley & Co.’ This indicates a strong workshop ethos and corporate identity.

About the Earley Database

In 2004, the Library completed a project of digitising the Earley designs and establishing a searchable database of the collection. This project was carried out by Eneclann, Ltd., an archives and records management company, and was funded by the National College of Art & Design and the Heritage Council.

The database records contain summary information extracted from the designs, as well as an image index number. The majority of records also display a large thumbnail image for quick reference. To view a full-screen image, click on the thumbnail or the image index number where appropriate.

The original drawings and large scale, preservation quality images of the complete collection are available to view on disc in the Library. Additional background information on the Earley’s can also be found in the Library.

can someone please check this latin text for me….don’t want to make a ball’s of it..Again!

And he said to me: It is done. I am Alpha and Omega: the Beginning and the End. To him that thirsteth, I will give of the fountain of the water of life, freely.

et dixit mihi factum est ego sum Alpha et Omega initium et finis ego sitienti dabo de fonte aquae vivae gratis.

I must invest in a decent camera..I tried enhancing the contrast & gamma on this one to reveal the sacred heart enthroned & St.Patrick kneeling with a map of Ireland..The gilding on this ceiling is magnificently enriching but at the same time delicately understated.

I am very pleased to report that The Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Roscommon town is in pristine condition.

The Sanctuary
On St. Patrick’s Day 1925, the newly decorated sanctuary was unveiled. A Venetian artist, Signor Camorino, had been working on the decoration for a year.
The entire surface of the apse, 14 metres (45 ft) from floor to ceiling is done in mosaic. For the first 1.5 metres (4 ft), there is a mosaic drapery of a dark colour, relieved by gold and emerald ornamentation.
Above the drapery and immediately around the altar, there is a reproduction of a work of the great Florentine artist, Botticelli entitled “The Glory of the Angels”. This extends the whole length of the apse, a distance of 5.5 metres (18 ft). Over the “Glory of the Angels” seven separate panels extend across the apse. Four of these represent the four Evangelists, two on the right and two on the left. These are reproductions, on a reduced scale, of the work of Michelangelo in St. Peter’s in Rome.
The three panels in the centre are symbolic representations. On the left is the cross, symbol of the way to salvation; on the right, the palm of victory; and in the centre, the chalice and host. All are supported by angels.
Above the panels, and in the spaces between the stained glass windows are life-size figures of the following – St. Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorists; St. Francis, founder of the Franciscans; St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits; St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists; St. Dominic, founder of the Dominicans and St. Augustine, whose rule was followed by the Augustinians.

The Ceiling of the Sanctuary
The decoration of the cupola is the work of Craftworkers Ltd, Dublin. This is a representation of the dedication of Ireland to the Sacred Heart. In the centre, the Sacred Heart is enthroned and before it, St. Patrick kneels with a scroll on which a map of Ireland is traced.
Around him are the Archbishops of the Irish provinces. Behind, are bishops, priests and laity, all making an offering of Ireland to the Sacred Heart. On the ceiling, angels are portrayed holding scrolls on which are written “Sanctissimo Cordi Jesu Laus Honor et Gloria”.
The remaining portion of the sanctuary is conventionally decorated with the vine, the lamb, the sealed book, the cross, the chalice and a variety of Eucharistic emblems.

This story was from 2007..doe’s anyone know what the eventual outcome of this was?
Anger at developer’s plan for church.

Three applications for purchase were lodged.
One was to a developer who wanted to turn the church into a pub and restaurant
one was for a traditionalist group who wanted to offer the Tridentine Mass there
and another was by Galway developer John O Dolan to turn it into a leisure centre complete with spa and swimming pool.

The Jesuit Order has sold the church to John O Dolan instead of the Traditionalist Catholic group. The Church will now be used as a swimming pool instead of traditional Latin Masses.
Plans to turn a Limerick church into a €12 million leisure centre have attracted the anger of local Catholics.
They have denounced as ‘‘grotesque’’ proposals to celebrate Mass around a swimming pool in the former Jesuit church.
John O’Dolan, a Galway-based auctioneer, bought the Sacred Heart church from the Jesuits in March 2006 for more than €4 million.
He is now submitting proposals for a €12 million leisure centre development to include a 20-metre swimming pool, spa, 15,000 square foot gym and restaurant. O’Dolan said he had been in pre-planning talks with Limerick Corporation and expected to submit his proposals within the next three to four weeks.
O’Dolan told the Limerick Chronicle last year that a number of ideas had been suggested for the protected building, including keeping it as a church, turning it into a restaurant or converting it into offices. His new proposals involve the retention of much of the original building, including the five altars, sanctuary and organ.
‘‘It was important that any proposals we submitted for the building were very respectful of the structure’s past as a place of worship,” said O’Dolan.
‘‘It will be a top-of-the-range development with a sauna and a beautician in the spa, a restaurant with seating for about 80 people and a fully-equipped gym. At the same time, it’s going to be reasonably priced and won’t be reserved for a select few.
‘‘There should be no reason why people can’t still come here and pray. I’m going to be talking to the Latin Mass Society about the possibility of holding Latin services here once a month.”
But Vicky Nestor, the chairman of the Limerick branch of the Latin Mass Society of Ireland (LMSI), has reacted angrily to suggestions that the leisure centre complex could be used for Mass.
‘‘It’s grotesque to think that we could fit the most sacred ceremony of the Catholic faith around a swimming pool,” she said.
There are also doubts as to whether Church law would allow Mass to be celebrated in the venue, even if the altar and the organ remained in place. Canon law only allows Mass to be celebrated in a ‘‘suitably dignified’’ place and forbids ‘‘sordid use’’ of former churches.
The LMSI has rejected the developer’s offer of further talks.
‘‘After our only meeting with him, last May, it became clear that there is nothing to talk about, unless he has retracted his previous bizarre proposal for Mass to be held on a covered swimming pool,” said Nestor.

The Dutch bishops, have a policy that no church may be sold for use for any other purpose. Superfluous churches must be demolished. The land may then be sold, why do we not have a similar arrangement for unrequired churches here?

Johnglas..sorry about the quality of the Ballaghadereen pic’s.. the cathedral looks like very dull in these because I only had my phone camera (rubbish flash) with me at the time I happened to be passing. In reality while sombre & peaceful as you would expect the cathedral has a magnificent medieval quality & superb resonance so while as you say some refurbishment is not totally unjustified, unfortunately I don’t think the proposed changes will accommodate very well to the essence of the building… all that red carpet!!..as to the “movable” hexagonal altar.. I don’t know if it is..are you asking because it’s completely out of proportion with its surroundings?

@tomahawk wrote:

No, its not just you !

There are some “contributors” to this thread who have nothing really interesting to actually contribute apart from borrowed negativity, maybe if they had something worthwhile to communicate or post then they wouldn’t confuse monomania with real passion or accuse the one person who’s understanding of this subject goes way beyond their comprehension.

@Praxiteles wrote:

Praxiteles reently came across this example of what must the ultimate in stripped-down modernism applide to ecclesiastical architecture leaving us with an office feeling rather than anything else. However, in terms of theological degredation, it looks remarkably “old fashioned” in not having incorporated anything of the ‘huddeled around the table’ approach to the Mass so dear to the Cloyne HACK and its partigani.

make a great snooker hall that one! ….have the Cloyne HACK never contemplated on the parable of the new wine skins… here it is just for them.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’

Prax….do they have to be a bishop?

I took this little excerpt from here….. http://www.francisdesales.com/consecration/amberg

The Bishop then anoints the twelve crosses on the wall of the church with chrism, incensing each. These crosses are signs the church has been consecrated and must always remain there.

I’ve been in many a church were there’s none of these crosses to be seen as they have obviously been wiped out while decorating.. Is this a problem…are the church’s somehow deconsecrated when this occurs?