Praxiteles

St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork

St. Colman’s Roman Catholic Trust Limited

Returns to the Companies Registration Office, received on 9 August 2009:

This is the announcement we have been expecting for several years now, i.e., the departure of Bishop Magee as a Director of the St Colman’s Roman Catholic Trust. While we note that Denis Murphy, in presenting the chairman’s report placed on record a debt of gratitude to fellow directors Denis O’Callaghan and James O’Donnell, no such debt was registered in respect of Bishop Magee. Indeed, his departure is distinguished by an eerie silence.

Given the present composition of the Trust, there are only three more resignations thta we have to wait for before this glorious body is sent to commercial Valhalla:

St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of year again (in fact a little anticipated) when we all have the pleasure of reading he returns made to the Companies Registration Office by St. Colman’s Roman Catholic Trust Limited. This, as you will recall is the body which raises “funds for the restoration of St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork”. This year’s report is presented by Denis Murphy, the milk person from Mallow, but it remains ambivelant whether he is presenting the report as chairman of the Trust or not. It is dated 8 July 2010 – a fatal day for on that very day Bishop John Magee resigned as chairman of the Trust with immediate effect.

The boldest statement in the report (which, we must admit, is of fig-leaf dimensions) is that the Trust “intends to continue in its efforts to raise funds for the completion of the restoration“. It was well that this was stated as an intention. As a pious aspiration it might have been better – especially when we look at the results of the fund raising efforts for the financial year ended 31 December 2009. An enterprising boy would have done better for his confirmation.

Briefly, the fundraising activities amounted to 28,036 euro in bank interest; 40,000 euro from the Department of the Environment, heritage and Local Government, and 70, 000 euro from The Heritage Council. No donations, bequests or endowments are reported. So, that is the sum total of the efforts “to raise funds for the completion of the restoration of St Colman’s Cathedral” to year’s end 2009.

Praxiteles has to say that the bank interest received is pretty miserable – even for the present straightened circumstances. Perhaps the Trust might try a Post Office stamp account – the interest return could not be worse.

In the same period, 377,190 euro was spend on works to th Cathedral – presumably to stop the water coming in as a result of the “restoration” being pursued by the Trust. This left the Trust with a negative situation in the amount of 239, 154 euro which was subvented from reserves.

At the opening of the year, the rserve amounted to 1,093,274 euro. Subvenbting the works’ loss left the reserve at 854,120 euro at year’s end. However, as contingency item for 190,461 is charged to the reserve (this is money that may have to be repaid to the Heritage Council in the event of a breach of covenant made with the Heritage Council as a condition for funding received in the 1990s) it looks as though the reserve fund now really stands at 673,659 euro. Bearing in mind that the report commissioned for the Heritage Council states that some 1 million will have to be spent simply to make the building waterproof after the botched restoration Praxiteles is beginning to see a red coloured horizon – especially as the general population in Cork at present would not subscribe much to an appeal after the last run around the got.

More sad news: The Directors of St Colman’s Catholic Trust have now shrunk to three: brian Carroll, Denis Murphy, and the intrepid Fran Walley. They do not seem to have a chairman at the moment. Denis Murphy, in his report, wishes to place on record “our debt of gratitude to the contributions made by The Ven. Archdeacon WilliamTwohig (RIP) and to Rt Rev Mgr Denis O’Callaghan and Rt Rev Mgr James O’Donnell, who both retired on age grounds“. Everybody, I think, realizes that that is Alic in Wonderland and it remains to be seen whether the “debit of gratitude” will be re-iterated in next year’s report. Nobody has come on to the board of directors – clearly signs of the times and of trouble convincing business persons of the worthwhileness of this particular enterprise.

Praxiteles is beginning to wonder how a company can continue to operate with three directors – especially when one has to act the chairman. As it is, it looks more than probable that there is a winding-up on the horizon – but will anyone be left to propose second and vote for it at a board meeting? Perhaps a trip to the commercial court might resolve the matter in the end?

If anybody thought that the financial crisis was over, he should think again having purused this awful set of results:

Very unusual that someone as successful & accomplished as Patrick Byrne has no visible headstone at his burial site .

Is there any possibility that he might have left instructions for no monument to be erected?

@Brendan Grimes wrote:

Patrick Byrne is buried in plot XA34 garden. It is ironical that there is no mark or stone to indicate his grave given that he was the architect for the cemetery. I think we need to do something to remedy this.

How about opening a subscription list?

Chapel of the Loreto Convent, Fermoy, Co. Cork

The interior of the Chapel of the Loreto Convent, Fermoy, Co.- Cork, by Pugin and Ashlin and dating from 1869. It was built after the partnership had gothicised the nearby parish church.

Edward Walsh, the notable historian of Irish-Latin American affairs and friend of Praxiteles, has also been on the Leeson trail in Argentina. Here is a fascinating account of the perambulations of John Leeson’s son:

http://www.irlandeses.org/0811walsh.htm

St- Philippe-du-Roule, Paris

Some further notes on St-Philippe-du Roule, Paris VIII:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_Saint-Philippe-du-Roule

Brendan Grimes also published this in 1998:

ISBN is:

ISBN 13: 9780716526186 ISBN 10: 0716526182

From the Dictionary of National Biorgaphy, Vol. 43, London (1895) , pp. 66-69.

PAIN, JAMES (1779P-1877), the
younger, architect and builder, was son of
James Pain, and grandson of William Pain
[q. v.] Born about 1779 at Isleworth in
Surrey, he was apprenticed with a younger
brother.GEORGE RICHARD PAIN (1793?-! 838),
who was born in London about 1793, to John
Nash [q. v.], architect, and subsequently the
two brothers entered into business together
as architects and builders. George exhibited
at the Royal Academy designs in the Gothic
style in 1810-14, while living at 1 Diana
Place, Fitzroy Square. About 1817, when
Nash designed Loughcooter Castle, co. Gal-
way, for Charles Vereker, viscount Gort, he
recommended the brothers as builders. They
consequently went to Ireland. James settled
at Limerick and George at Cork. While
practising as architects they often carried
their own designs into execution. James
was appointed architect to the board of first-
fruits for the province of Munster, where a
large number of churches and glebe-houses
were built, altered, or repaired by him and
his brother. Their churches of Buttevant,
Midleton, and Carrigaline, with a tower and
spire, are among the best specimens of the
Gothic architecture of the period. . The man-
sion, Mitchelstown Castle, near Cork, for
the Earl of Kingston, is the largest and per-
haps the best of their designs ; it is in the late
thirteenth-century style. An engraving ap-
pears in Neale’s ‘ Seats of Noblemen and
Gentlemen,’ 4to, 1825, 2nd ser. vol. ii.

Others of their works were the gaols at
Limerick and Cork ; Bael’s, Ball’s, or Bawl’s
bridge, consisting of one arch, over the
abbey stream at Limerick (1831); Thomond
bridge, over the river Shannon at Limerick,
between 1839 and 1843; and Athlunkard
bridge, about a mile distant, consisting of
five large elliptic arches.

George died in 1838, aged 45, and was
buried in the churchyard of St. Mary, Shan-
don, co. Waterford. James retired, and died
in Limerick on 13 Dec. 1877, in his ninety-
eighth year, and was buried at the cathedral
of that city.

[Neale (as above) ; local information ; Dic-
tionary of Architecture of the Architectural
Publication Society, which adds the names of
many other buildings.] W. P-H.

PAIN, WILLIAM (1730P-1790?), writer
on architecture and joinery, published a
series of practical treatises. The earliest
was ‘ The Builder’s Companion and Work-
man’s General Assistant,’ 92 plates, fol.
1759, chiefly dealing with work in the Chip-
pendale style. This was followed by ‘ The
Builder’s Pocket Treasure ; or, Palladio de-
lineated and explained,’ 44 plates, 8vo, 1763 ;
and compilations of the same description ap-
peared in 1774, 1780, and 1782. The British
Palladio; or, Builder’s General Assistant,’
&c., 42 plates, fol. 1785, was reissued in 1793,
1797, and 1804. The date 1770, usually
assigned to Pain’s death, is obviously too-
early. A William Paine died in the Isle of”
Thanet on 27 July 1771 (Gent. Mag. 1771,
p. 378), but the architectural writer must
have died after 1790. ‘ W. Pain,’ of 1 Diana
Place, Fitzroy Square, who exhibited at the
Royal Academy designs in the Gothic style
in 1802 and 1807, was possibly a son.

Another son, James, a builder and sur-
veyor, assisted his father in his latest pub-
lication, and left at least four sons, three of
whom (Henry, James [q. v.], and George
Richard) were pupils of the architect John
Nash.

[Dictionary of Architecture; Catalogue of
Royal Academy.] W. P-H.

PAINE. [See also PAIX and PAYNE.]

_PAINE or PAYNE, JAMES (1725-
1789), architect, born in 1725, is said to-
have become a student in the St. Martin’s
Lane Academy, where he attained the power
of drawing the figure and ornament with
success (Diet, of Arch.} He states tha^ he
began as a youth the study of architecture
under Thomas Jersey (d. 1751), and at the
age of nineteen was entrusted with the con-
struction of Nostell Priory in the West
Riding of Yorkshire for Sir Rowland Winne,
bart., ‘after a design seen by his client during
his travels on the continent ‘ (NEALE, Seats,.
vol. iv. ; WOOLFE and GANDOX, VitruviusBri-
tannicus, fol., London* 1767, vol. i. pi. 57-63, or
pi. 70-3). About 1740 he erected two wings-
at Cusworth House, Yorkshire, for Williami
AVrightson (NEALE, Seats, vol. v. ; WooLFE r
i. pi. 89-92), and he refers to ‘several gentle-
men’s buildings in Yorkshire’ as executed
prior to 1744, when he was employed to design
and build (as was then the practice with
architects) the mansion-house at Doncaster
This was completed in 1748 ; and he published
a description, with twenty-one plates (fol.,
London, 1751).

Paine was, until 1772, a director of the
Society of Artists of Great Britain, and nu-
merous designs by him appear in the society’s
‘ Catalogues’ from 1761 onwards. But the
fullest account of his work appears in his
‘ Plans, &c., of Noblemen and Gentlemen’*
Residences executed in various Counties, and
also of ‘stabling, bridges, public and private
temples, and other garden buildings.’ The
first volume or part was issued in 1767, the
second part in 1783, together with a second
edition of the first, and the book contained
altogether 175 fine plates. Among the plans
are the stabling and some bridges at Chats-
worth for the Duke of Devonshire (1758-
1763); Cowick Hall, Yorkshire, for Viscount
Downe ; Gosforth, Northumberland, for Ch.
Brandling, esq. ; Melbourne (now known as
Dover) House, Whitehall, for Sir M. Feather-
stonhaugh, bart. ; Belford, Northumberland,
for Abraham Dixon, esq. ; Serlby, Notting-
hamshire, for Viscount Galway ; Stockeld
Park, Yorkshire, for William Middleton, esq. ;
Lumley Castle at Sandbeck, Yorkshire, for
the Earl of Scarborough (WATTS, Seats of
the Nobility, $c., 1779-90, pi. x.) ; Bywell,
Northumberland, for William Fenwick, esq. ;
Axwell Park, Durham, for Sir Thomas Cla-
vering, bart. ; Heath, Yorkshire, for Mrs.
Hopkinson ; St. Ires, Yorkshire, for Benja-
min Ferrand, esq. ; Thorndon Hall, Essex, for
Lord Petre (NEALE, 2nd ser. vol. ii. ; WRIGHT,
Esse.r, vol. ii. ; WATTS, pi. 17) ; Wardour
Castle, Wiltshire, for Henry, eighth lord
Arundel (NEALE, vol. iii. ; Builder for 1858,
xvi. 548) ; Stapleton Park, Yorkshire, for
Edward Lascelles, esq., afterwards Earl of
Harewood (NEALE, vol. iv.) ; Brocket Hall,
Hertfordshire, for Sir Matthew Lamb, after-
wards Lord Melbourne (ib. 2nd ser. vol. v.);
Hare Hall, near Romford, Essex, for J. A.
Wallenger, esq. (WRIGHT, Esse.r, vol. ii. ;
NEALE, vol. i.) ; Shrubland Hall, Suffolk ;
and other smaller works. In London he de- j
signed Lord Petre’s house in Park Lane ; Dr. :
Heberden’s house, and another for the Hon. i
Thomas Fitzmaurice, both in Pall Mall. His
work also included bridges at Richmond and
at Chillington, Staffordshire, besides several !
ceilings and ‘ chimneypieces,’ one being for (
Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A., in Leicester
Square, two at Melbourne House, and
another in Park Lane. These were of his
own peculiar design and execution (‘ Letters
of Sir W. Chambers, 1769/ in Journal of
Royal Institute of British Architects, 1892,
p. 4). The bridges of Chertsey (BRATLEY,
Surrey, ii. 231), Walton, and Kew (FAULK-
NER, Brentford, p. 168) were built in 1783
from his designs, and at the same time
Salisbury Street in the Strand was laid out
by him.

His plans are well arranged and commo-
dious, and the buildings soundly constructed ;
but some of the designs are meagre imita-
tions of the Italian school. Gwilt, in his
memoir of Sir William Chambers (Civil
Architecture, 1825, p. xlix), remarks that
‘ Paine and Sir Robert Taylor divided the
practice of the profession between them until
Robert Adam entered the list, and distin-
guished himself by the superiority of his
taste in the nicer and more delicate parts
of decoration.’

Paine held the appointment under the
king’s board of works of clerk of the works
(or resident architect) at Greenwich Hospital,
and held a like post afterwards at Richmond
New Park and Newmarket. Finally he was
attached to the board of works as ‘ architect
to the king,’ but was displaced in 1782, very
soon after his appointment, by Burke’s Re-
form Bill, without gratuity or pension. In
1771 Paine was elected president of the So-
ciety of Artists of Great Britain. ‘ Chambers
and Paine, who were leading members in the
society, being both architects, were equally
desirous that the funds should be laid out in
the decoration of some edifice adapted to the
objects of the institution. This occasioned
much debate, acrimony, and rivalry among
their respective partisans ‘ (GALT, Life of
West, ii. 35). At length Paine designed for
the society the academy or exhibition rooms,
near Exeter Change, Strand, and on 23 July
1771 laid the first stone (Annual Register^.
The exhibition in the new buildings was
opened on 1 1 May 17 72, when an ‘ ode,’ written
by E. Lloyd, with music by W. Hook, was
recited (given in ib, p. 206). The building
was soon afterwards sold, and in 1790 was
converted into the Lyceum Theatre. In
1764 Paine was living in a spacious house in
St. Martin’s Lane, which he had built for
himself; he removed in 1766 to Salisbury
Street, and about!785to Addlestone orSayes
Court, near Chertsey, to which he is said to
have made additions in the Elizabethan style ;
there he is stated to have formed a fine col-
lection of drawings. In 1783 he was high
sheriff for Surrey, and in the commission of
the peace for Essex, Middlesex, and Surrey.
Some months preceding his death he retired
to France, and died there about November
1789, in the seventy-third year of his age (ib.
1789, p. 232). A son James is separately
noticed. Of his two daughters, the younger
was married after 1777 to Tilly Kettle [q. v.]
the painter.

At the South Kensington Museum there
are two volumes of drawings, one having
twenty-three examples of rosettes, c., and
the other having forty-four examples of orna-
ments, vases, mirror-frames, &c., both of
which may be attributed to Paine.

There is a stippled portrait of Paine dated
1798 ; a similar plate by P. Falconet, en-
graved in 1769 by D. P. Pariset; a small
one by F. Hayman, engraved by C. Grignion,
prefixed to his publication of 1751. There is
also the brilliant picture of Paine and his son
James by Sir Joshua Reynolds, painted in
June 1764. This is now in the University
gallery at Oxford, the son having bequeathed
it to the Bodleian Library. It was engraved
in 1764 by J. Watson, and shows a scroll
inscribed ‘ Charter of the Society of Artists ; ‘
but this was only granted 26 Jan. 1765 (PYE,
Patronage, 1845, pp. 116, 136).

[Dictionary of Architecture; Gent. Mag. 1789,
ii. 1153; Redgrave’s Diet, of Artists ; Catalogues
of the Society of Artists of Great Britain and
of the Royal Academy of Arts ; Pye’s Patronage
of British Art, 8vo, 1845 ; Literary Panorama,
1807-8, iii. 809, 1013, 1226.] W. P-H.

PAINE, JAMES (d. 1829 ?), architect,
only son of James Paine the elder [q. v.],
was instructed at the St. Martin’s Lane
Academy, and exhibited ‘ stained drawings ‘
at the Spring Gardens exhibitions of 1761,
1764, and 1790. He then appears to have
travelled in Italy. On his return he sent to
the exhibitions of the Royal Academy of
Arts architectural drawings in 1781, 1788,
and in 1788 an ‘ Intended Bridge across
Lough Foyle at Derry.’ In 1791 he was one
of the original fifteen members of the ‘Archi-
tects’ Club’ (MULVANY, Life of Gandon,
1847).

His father, by his will dated February
1786, probably left his son independent,
which may account for his name not being
found in later ‘ Catalogues ‘ of the Royal
Academy. In the library at the South Ken-
sington Museum is a large volume with
‘ J. Paine, jun. Archt. Rome, 1774,’ on the
outside, containing fifty-seven drawings of
studies at Rome, all signed by him, being
plans of four palaces, views at Albano and
Tivoli, measured drawings of the Ponte
Rotto, and a number of statues with their
measurements. In 1788 he had residences
in both North End, Hammersmith, and
Salisbury Street. On 12 March 1830 Mr.
Christie sold the pictures, a few casts, books
of architecture, &c., ‘the property of J.
Paine, Esq., Architect (deceased).’ Among
them were the account and other books by
Nicholas Stone, sen.[q. v.],and his son, Henry
Stone [q. v.], formerly belonging to Vertue
(quoted in WALPOLE’S Anecdotes), and now
preserved in Sir John Soane’s Museum. His
portrait was included with his father’s in
the picture painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds
in 1764.

[Dictionary of Architecture ; Sale Catalogue
in Sir John Soane’s Museum.] W. P-H.

The wood-work is in wallnut.

Here is the bit about monastic esceticism:

http://en.gloria.tv/?media=93330