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@samuel j wrote:
I too find it very strange that the custodians of such a building, of international fame, not to mind its importance within Ireland, have no formal and professional arrangements in place. Incredible is all I can say….
Not at all surprising. It just what you can expect from the gerontocracy that long ago should have moved over to the Cobh Senior Citizens Club! Some of these are so backward in their outlook that it is surprising they use electricity!!
@THE_Chris wrote:
It a general thing everywhere. People dont like cleaning churches. They say its either the priests or sacristans job.
In a small country parish I was in recently, there were 100 people on average going to church. The First Holy Communion was coming up so they asked for some volunteers (out of the 100 normal churchgoers and the 50-60 extra for the first communion) to help clean up the church one night.
Four people turned up.
People say “The priests & sacristans are being paid, they should do it”. When in reality its neither the priests nor sacristans JOB to do it. Even though those two usually end up doing it. Sometimes a priest turns up, sometimes not, leaving the entire job to the sacristan and the 4-odd people.
IIRC the sacristans job is officially to do with the altar and the sacristy. Even in a small church, they arent officially required to clean and tidy the main part of the church, even thoug they usually do.
Maybe things in Cobh will jostle round a bit after the usual ‘Inter-Parish-Priestly-shuffle” thats going on there soon!
A well organised parish will have an altar society part of whose job is to ensure that the parish church is kept clean and tidy by attending to ordinary general maintenance. I do not know whether the Cobh altar society is still running or not. It was a example of practical -if not glamorous – lay involvement in the life of the Church. Should it no longer function, then we are dealing with a clear neglect at thelevel of parochial administration.
In the case of Cobh Cathedral it is quite extraordinary that no institutional arrangement exists to ensure the onging attention a building of such importance requires. Cologne Cathedral has its Domverein (if we can still use a teuton word) which houses its building archive]Reverendissima Fabbrica[/I] of Milan Cathedral which carries out the same functions on a professional basis and still owns the quarries in Switzerland from which much of the stone for the Cathedral was (and still is) drawn. Until such exists in Cobh, the maintenance of this building will continue to be done on an unprofessional hand-to-mouth basis by people like denis reidy who, ultimately, know little or nothing about the building, and seem to care less.
As for Cobh Urban District Council ever being expected to fulfill its duties under the planning act, or indeed to enforce the act,I am afraid that we can look forward to white blackbirds.
The Diocese of Cloyne has just published its Diocesan Directory for 2007 and provides the list of those serving on the Cloyne Historic Churches Advisory Committee. We are told that this committee has been established in “compliance with Planning Act 2000 (sic) without mentioning section or number of the act.
The following are those presently sitting on the Cloyne HACK:
1. Canon S
@kite wrote:
Its all down to the “great one†that cannot be criticized under any circumstances, the “mighty one†that was on the 11- 12, and one o clock news today telling us that his executive functions are his business and nobody else’s, this view backed by our Labour Lord Mayor who said “its out of councilors handsâ€.
Amazing what can be done when Councillors put their mind to things??
It must be the time of year but Handel’s Messiah comes to mind and those wonderful lyrics from Isaiah 9:7:
multiplicabitur eius imperium@Spinal Tap wrote:
The Honal Chapel U.C.C. Cork – Beautiful interiors and stained glass & floor mosaic.
Stunning.Agreed, and it has just celebrated the 90 anniversary of its consecration and remarkably is still, for the most part, intact. The sanctuary lamp has recently been re-instated and we await the re-instatement of the Grille for the West door and the altar rail.
kite wrote:To her credit Cllr. Catherine Clancy of the Labour Party has raised this illegal development with the city manager and planners, her answer from the manager was, “]I wonder what we are looking into that taking such a long time, can we not just drive past, or are we just blind or otherwise impaired?
Ad re. nothing happening here is a term that might be mentioned: NON-FEASANCE
http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/n066.htm
and this explains how to move forward:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MalfeasanceAnd here are some more problems with the interior of St. Colman’s Cathedral that our young Italian friend might like to note: the interior stone work all nedds to be cleaned and the accumulated dust removed. This work wasoriginally planned as a stage in the “restoration” work on the Cathedral but was suspended in order to concentrate funds on the wrecking proposed by Professor Cathal O’Neill:
Surprisingly, on one has jet mentioned St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork, nor Sts. Peter and Paull’s in Cork City – if we can mention that place!
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
Regarding the mosaic on the floor, there must be experts somewhere you can lay mosaic flooring that will stay in place. They managed it all over the world for thousands of years.
Please let us be careful about mosaic workers – especially those from the Cliveden “Restoration” Workshops in Maidenhead, Berkshire – it seems more like a knackers yard for mosaics. Remember Guy Edwards contribution to the MIdleton Oral Hearing:
http://www.foscc.com/downloads/oh/21.%20Guy%20Edwards%20Submission.pdf
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
What you are looking at on the floor are not the original mosaic tiles. The dark brown/red tiles which framed the original wooden floor in the Cathedral were lifted at the time of the installation of the underfloor heating. The original floor was a wood block floor made of oak, I think. This was claimed by the builder, who mounted a guard on it until he could take it away – it now graces some pubs in Kerry I think. A new floor of much inferior quality was then laid.
Unfortunately nothing will be done about the floor now as I would think that the cost of replacing the wood block floor with a modern equivalent would be prohibitive and this would be well down on the list of what needs to be done.
If a new floor is needed then the Cathedral will have a new floor and to a standard commensurate with the quality craftsmanship of the rest of the building.
And here we have a snap of the smashing and dashing young Italian architect (on the left) who has become the architect for Cobh Town Council: Signor Architetto Don Pierangelo Cacciotti.
Welcome to Cobh. We look forward to a close and proficuous working relationship with you in addressing the the awful state of repairs of St. Colman’s Cathedral, Co. Co. Cork
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
The North Arcade
Like the South Arcade, the North Arcade also suffers from the long term effects of water ingress which has never been properly addressed.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
The South Arcade
The Sout arcade has been exposed to prolonged water ingress about which nothing has been done until perhaps very recently. It would now seem that a process of drying out is taking place which is causing the bath stone in ceiling of the arcades to crumble with the result that a fine white dust and larger flakes of material continually fall onto the seating in the arcade. This has been reported tot he Cathedral authoirites on several occasions by a number of people but nothing happens.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork.
The Altar of the Holy Family, located in the North transept, again has been stripped of its cloths and ornamenta. As with its counterpart in the South transept, Professor O’Neill proposed hacking out the predella of the altar and stacking benches in front of the altar.
The prototype for the central panel of the rerdos of the Altar is Raphael’s picture of the Marriage of the Virgin of 1504 now in the Brera in Milan.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
The Altar of the Crucifixion in the South transept
This altar has been stripped of its cloths and fittings. Professor Cathal O’Neill proposed hacking the predella from in front of the altar and stacking a dozen benches in front of it.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
The Baptistery
This must surely be one of the most neglected parts of the Cathedral interior. Again, this space is full of rubbish and clutter and generally untidy.
Until reently, the brass cover for the baptismal font was left suspended from the wall where it was certain to bring te mechanism for lifting it away from the wall. WHile the brass cover is now on the font, it is still not sitting on it.
The back wall has had several pieces of the marble wainscott hacked off the wall. SOmeone has knocked out two of the pillars from the rail and one seems to have been stolen. The rail itself has been damaged for some reason. Indeed, the entire space gives the appearance of having been vandalized and nobody is too worried about it and no remedial action is being taken.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh Co. Cork
The fifth significent chapel in the Cathedral is the general Mortuary Chapel located in the base of the spire.
The altar has been stripped of its cloths and ornaments and is generally treated with an appaling disrespect.
The Mrtuary itself is used as a general dump with all sorts of junk pitched into it. Inded, Cobh Urban District Council could well have reason to investigate it as an unlicensed dumping area.
The walls and ceiling vault are stained by heavy water ingress taht would seem to be ongoing for years and nothing has been done about it.
