Praxiteles
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@ake wrote:
Yes I believe that’s correct. I also recall it being said of it that it’s one of the longest surviving medieval altar tops in Ireland or Britain. Currently there’s a beautiful celtic tapestry hung on the altar face;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086761@N00/1535228887/sizes/l/in/set-72157602353759472/
I think it is the largest altar mensa in Ireland cut from a single block of stone. The major revival influence in Limerick’s St. Mary’s Cathedral was the Anglican Bishop John Jebb.
On the subject of authenticity, if memory serves me correctly, the High Altar in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick is the original altar of the Cathedral. It was discovered buried in the grounds of the Cathedral during works in th 19th century -having been dragged out by the Cromwellian iconoclasts. Perhaps someone could verify that.
The use of elements from medieval buildings or indeed the incorporation of the remains of medieval buildings into neo-gothic churches represents a phase of the Gothic revival that pre-dates Pugin and was all part of the drive towards achieving authenticity. An early eample of this is the east elevation of St. Mary’s, Buttevant, Co. Cork (1832) which incorporates a mediavel urban tower with the neo-Gothic stone work imitating the 14th century prototype and incorpoprating smaller decorative elements from the adjacent 13th century Franciscan Friary. Pugin, however, brought the drive to authenticity to a fine art and often installed medieval fixtures and fittings bought in France and the Low Countries. It should come as small surprise taht JJ McCarthy should have pursued the authenticity drives by installing available local medieval examples.
The architect of St. Mary’s Thomastown wasJJ. McCarthy. The church was built between 1869-1872. Jeanne Sheehy notes that McCarthy re-used the altar from Jerpoint Abbey in his original scheme for the church. Apparently, that altar has disappeared. As to the font, presumably this was another authentic Gothic element of McCarthy’s scheme perhaps also from Jerpoint or some other local mediaval ruin. It really is a disgrace beyond words to see this font used as a flower box.
@ake wrote:
here’s one http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedhoyne/2422759993/
Thanks Ake. What an interesting Round Tower.
@ake wrote:
Here’s a look at the parish church in Thomastown, Kilkenny
It’s interior has many of the features you’ll find the Puginesque churches of the South East; but here rather than granite columns we’re treated to beautiful Kilkenny Marble piers;
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The North side chapel/parish arboretum has two interesting features;
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First this;
“All the post-Reformation chapels down to 1867 stood within Thomastown chapel graveyard. The venerable old chapel of the penal times was taken down about 1770 after the late parish chapel, in use until 1867 had been built over and around it. A prominent place in both these chapels was held by beautifully carved oak statue of the virgin and child, said to have been brought from Spain by Patrick Lincoln a wine merchant of Thomastown who died in 1666. Mr Lincoln’s widow Mrs Mary Lincoln otherwise Dobbin who died in 1709 presented the statue with crowns of silver in 1705… The statue has always held a place of prominence in the churches since 1705.”
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And then this; what looks to be an old font, rehabilitated for use as an indoor garden water feature.
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Here’s the altar with a good plaster reredos.
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And some lovely glass
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Large version; http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086761@N00/2442210149/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Looks like every window has protective glazing
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Very nice glass and an interesting early Rose window. I amnot sure however that glass with expansive scenes is quite appropriate for a winndow of this type and era. Smaller panels would seem to be the thing. Any photograph of the facade?
@nebuly wrote:
The situation in the Church of Ireland has perhaps not been so extreme in that there has not in general been a wholesale destruction of Altars and sanctuary arrangements – and at any rate they are generally of a much simpler nature. Nonetheless the stripping of Churches such as the Collegiate Church at Youghal and the Cathedral at Limerick of their soft lime plaster has done no favours to some of our most important mediaeval buildings.
There has been a most unfortunate trend to pull altars away from the east wall ( almost all altars are movable tables of wood – the Cottingham Lady Chapel Altar which was the High Altar at Armagh, is a rare exception ). This has been done in that false spirit of liturgical renewal which has pervaded the Western Church, common in the Church of England and pioneered by those who claim Vatical II as their inspiration in the Roman Catholic Church althoug none of the liturgical documents requires such changes to existing altar arrangements.
Nebuly,
Thanks very much for that comment re the liturgical non-necessity of removing extant Altars in order to conform to the liturgical NORMS of the Second Vatican Council. One of the objectives of this thread has been to highlight this aspect of article 299 of the General Instruction to the Roman Missal.
From yesterday’s olim Cork Exanuner an account of what has happened to JJ. McCarthy’s spire at St. Peter and Paul’s church Kilmallock, Co. Limerick.
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2008/04/25/story61137.asp
The problem of mounting antennae onto church spires comes before An Bord Pleannala frequerntly enough thath we can consider this another blight on the country’s ecclesiastical patrimony.
Speaking of glass, would anyone hav any idea about research material for the stained glass company of Watsons of Youghal, Co. Cork?
Re: Glaoine
Vol. X of irish Architectural and Decorative Studies has a very informative article by David Lawrence on Nineteenth-century Stained Glass in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe. It gives a detailed analysis of the development of 19th century glass as represented in this geographic area. I take it all of the wonderful examples he mentions are included in the database.
WIll it be possible to access the data base over the web? That would be a great advantage.
Also to be noted in the above mentioned article are Dr. lawrence’s occasional comments which make it quite clear that the kind of rekovation we we have seen umpteem examples of here has also been in operation in Anglican churches in the Limerick Killaloe diocese.
Can anyone confirm that the local firm engaged to carry out the maintenance work in Cobh Cathedral is Murhy-O’Connor?
That pink colour is most unfortunate.
Would one be correct in saying that the windows are by Watsons of Youghal and date from the 1950s/1960s?
The departure of the Mies-wreckovator is certainly good news and likely to leave Cobh Cathedral in a much safer position- However, we are not yet out of the woods. We have to find out who the new architect is and where he is coming from before giving full approval to him. No doubt teh FOSCC will be on to this one fairly quickly. The situation could also be improved by a few more resignations from the Steering committee and the abolition of the Cloyne HACK.
Here is an interesting and worthwhile project: to photograph and record every church spire and tower in France:
@Rhabanus wrote:
Milan boasts the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. One of its more unusual attractions, aside from its impressive Gothic facade, is the Nivola, a mechanical cloud in which the archbishop or another prelate ascends to heaven in order to bring down to earth the relic of the Holy Nail now ensconced in a cruciform reliquary.
These links explain the tradition of the Nivola and give the viewer an excellent picture of what the machine is, how it functions, and what the cathedral looks like from the Nivola.
Should the FOSCC order one for St Colman’s, Cobh – to be installed in the south transept once the roof of the south aisle ever gets repaired? A collection ought to be taken up in order to send a Nivola to Bogota – that theatre by Bonillo certainly could stand a Deus ex machina.
http://events.skyteam.com/sisp/skyteam/?fx=event&event_id=29881
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tltSKwNUjYc&feature=user
Rhabanus wishes all prelates a safe and happy landing in the Nivola.
Ah! The Visconti. Nice to see they are still around in Milan.
And another by the same architect at La Calera, Bogota, Colombia
http://www.archphoto.it/images/bonilla/bonillach.htm
It looks as though our friend Bonilla studied in DUblin!
And another example: Los Nogales Chapel,in Bogota, Colombia by Daniel Bonilla 2002
@Praxiteles wrote:
And here we have a contribution from Japan. Shigeru Ban’s Paper Church (1995) at Takatori in Kobe which was built for a community of Vietnamese catholics after the earthquake of 1995.
Apparently, the series of cardboard columns is supposed to be an assonanance of St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
And here we have a contribution from Japan. Shigeru Ban’s Paper Church (1995) at Takatori in Kobe which was built for a community of Vietnamese catholics after the earthquake of 1995.
