Praxiteles

He also did not seem to know that holding clonsultations with the hoi polloi in parallel with submitting the planning application to Cobh Town Council did not mean putting in the application first and then “consulting” the profanum vulgus – who have now caught up with him.

E. W. Pugin

The Basilica of Our Lady in Dadizele, Flanders

This looks to eb the interior before the WWI bombing.

Another one to cover himself in glory during the Oral hearing was the Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee. Prior to the hearing, he circularised the priests of the diocese to have them turn up to show “support”. This was a sort of Orangeman approach. The bigger and wider the black phalanx the more intimidated the inspetor would be. That approach kind of back fied when the indomitable Counsellor Sean O’Connor, at the end of his submission, thanked the cllergy for coming out in such large numbers to support those trying to save Cobh Cathedral from wreckage.

Bishop Magee also circularised the other bishops of the Munster province. So dutifully, Bishops Buckely of Cork, Murphy of Kerry (who apparently had nothing better to be doing in Killarney on Ash Wednesday), Clifford of Cashel (who drove his own motor car to the hearing) and Walsh of Killaloe all turned up during the course of the hearing to make solidarity with Bishop Magee.

There was another snag to that showing. We are told that on Wednesday night Bishop Magee’s legal team told him to stay at home on the final day of the hearing for he ran the risk of being called togive evidence by the Inspector and his counsel would be able to to save him from the ordeal of cross examination especially as the documentation which had been requested by the Tribunal had clearly shown the extent of the inconsistencies told by Bishop Magee. On Thursday, Magee was in hiding in the palace in Cobh afraid to come out. Unfortunately, he had not had the heart to tell poor Bishop WIllie Walsh who turned up and no body to give support or solidarity to. As soon as Bishop Magee’s insonsistent correspondence can be scanned, I shall post it. It certainly makes very interesting reading.

Another interesting cross-examination by Shane Murphy SC on behalf of the Friends of St. COlman’s Cathedral was that of Mary O’Halloran, the Cobh Town manageress. Following on the the revelations of Mr Heffernan’s omissions, the town manageress came into the Oral Hearing and announced that she had read all of the objections. Seemingly, she reads all of the objections lodged against every application as a metter of course. She declared that she had set aside a half day to read all of the objections to the application submitted by the Cathedral Trustees. A half day is four hours. Well, the calculators came out and 60X4=240 and 240 divided by 214 amounted to just over a minute per objection – though at least one important objection ran to more than ten pages. Be that as it may, Ms O’Halloran was given a copy of the minutes of the meeting of Cobh Town Council of 12 September 2005 in which there is an account of a debate concerning whether those whose objections had not been read would be receiving a refund. The question wwas posed by Counsellor Sean O’Connor. The good lady assured the council meeting that ALL of the objections had been read and she declared that she knew this because she had been so assured by Mr Des Heffernan. She then is minuted as saying that she did not intend to discuss the matter any further. When asked why she had not told the council’s last September meeting that she had read all of the objections, she mentioned something about not having found the box that Mr Heffernan had not read. When asked why she had not informed counsellor O’Connor of her discovery, she said that he had not asked her. When asked if she noted in the minutes that she said she was not going to discuss the matter further did she think Counsellor O’Connor would have asked her? And so and so forth………

Midleton Park had a quiet few titters yesterday as Shane Murphy, SC, took Cathal O’Neill through his paces. The great professor told the Cobh Cathedral Oral Hearing that he had been jobbing away as an architect for 51 years. He admitted that he was not a church architect, nor a conservation architect. He had “done” 3 church re-orderings in 51 years. Correcting his drift he siad that it had actually been 2 church re-orderings and 1 cathedral. He said that he was happy with 2 of those re-orderings and not so much with the third. When Shane Murphy asked him which cathedral he had re-ordered, he owned up that it was the Pro-Cathedral, a comment that drew the question from Mr. Murphy, “Are you sure that is a cathedral?”

Cathedral of St. Paul. Pittsburg

Designed by Egan and Prindeville of Chicago and built by Thomas Reilly, a general contractor from Philadelphia, the new Saint Paul’s is an example of the Scholastic, or Decorated, Gothic style of the 14th Century. The building rises two hundred and forty seven feet with a statue of Saint Paul mounted on the center pediment. Other exterior statues depict the apostles and evangelists of the Eastern and Western Church. While the overall proportions of the structure are not true to the classic cathedrals of Europe, Saint Paul Cathedral fits the site and (as the cathedrals of old) reflects their spirit and historical significance.

St. Mary’s, Burrow on Furness

E.W: Pugin 1852

St. Mary’s Catholic Church is built on a plot of ground facing Duke Street, generously presented by the Duke of Devonshire through Sir James Ramsden, to whom the Catholics of Barrow owe a deep debt of gratitude. The designs were furnished by the late Mr. Pugin, to whose father this country is indebted for the revival of Gothic architecture-a style which seems intimately connected with the sublimity of christian worship. The church was built in 1866-7, at a cost of £6,000. The finished design includes a tower and spire which, when added, will render the building not only a conspicous object in the street in which it is situated, but an ornament to the town. The interior is spacious, accommodating about 800 persons, and consists of an apsidal chancel, nave, and side aisles. The latter are separated from the nave by rows of arches resting on pillars with alternately moulded and floriated capitals. The pupit is a creditable piece of carving, bearing on its four sides, cut in high relief, representations of the four evangelists in the act of committing to writing the inspirations of the, Holy Ghost. The chancel is embellished by a magnificent altar and reredos, designed and carved by Messrs. Neill and Pearson, the eminent sculptors of Dublin. The whole design is beautifully characteristic in its conception, and harmonizes well with the Gothic style which has been preserved throughout the edifice. The prominent portions, consisting of the antependium (front part of the altar), the tabernacle, and the candle benches, are all composed of statuary marble, except the plinth, which is of dark coloured marble. Behind is the reredos of Caen stone, containing six arches, three on each side of the tabernacle, resting on beautifully polished columns of Galway green marble. Within these niches are the following effigies : on the right the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. James, and St. Paul; and on the left a statue of the Sacred Heart, St. Peter, and St. John. The reredos is surmounted by embattled work, richly moulded and carved. On the front of the altar are two very significant groups representing the Last Supper, after Leonardo da Vinci, and the Adoration of the Lamb. These groups stand out in high relief, and are both admirable specimens of the truthfulness and delicacy of the sculptor’s chisel. Above the tabernacle rises a massive canopy, supported on red marble columns. It is octagonal, resting on a square, which has gablets on each of its four sides, in which are arches. Each of these gables is finished by a finial. The upper part of the canopy is richly crocketed, and terminates in a large floriated finial. The tabernacle and candle benches are heavily moulded and inlaid with red, green, and white marbles. The tabernacle is also enriched by an elaborate brass door, on which are engraved a cross, and a border of beautiful flowing foliage. The work is all executed in the highest style of art, and is a credit to the sculptors. Last year, 1881, a large and powerful organ was added to the church, which necessitated a very considerable enlargement of the gallery. The instrument was originally built by Messrs. Hill and Son, of London, for the Theatre of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, and contains nearly 3,000 pipes. It is blown by hydraulic power, but is also so arranged as to be independent of water force. We are glad to note that the cheap coloured prints of the Stations of the Cross hitherto used in the church, are now (June, 1882) being replaced by a set more worthy the edifice. The new series are well executed oleographic copies of the Italian masters. Each picture is encased in a massive oak frame of two shades, richly carved in the Renaissance style. A bell and bugle moulding and corner pattresses give a lightness and artistic finish to the frame. The upper and lower shafts carry tablets, bearing the number of the station and the names of the donors. The frames are the design and work of Mr. Matthew Russell, and bear testimony to his manipulative skill. The mission is under the care of the Rev. E. Caffrey, assisted by two resident curates, and numbers about 5,000. Attached to the church is a handsome presbytery from the designs of Mr. J. O’Byrne, of Liverpool. The Schools, near the church, form a good block of buildings, of the Gothic style to agree with that edifice, and enlivened by the introduction of bands of cream coloured bricks. The accommodation becoming too limited, the schools were enlarged in 1881, by the addition of a spacious two storied building, increasing the capacity to about 1,000. The new wing is a substantial brick building with a capacity for 500 children, and was erected at a cost of about £3 per child of the accommodation. The boys’ school is under the care of Mr. Bulmer, and the girls’ and infants’ under Miss Fairbairn and Miss Shaw.
from Mannex’s directory of Furness and Cartmel, 1882.

Our Lady’s and St. Michael’s, Workington

E. W. Pugin, 1876

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amidale, New South Wales

consecrated 1912

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sale, Victoria