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Newman’s University Church: 150 years
Dr Eileen Kane was formerly a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History of Art in University College Dublin. She has published extensively on French, Italian and Irish art both in Ireland and abroad. Her most recent publication is The Church of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome, (Rome 2005), San Silvestro is the titular church of Cardinal Desmond Connell of Dublin. Here she tells the story of Newman’s University Church on St Stephen’s Green, Dublin.
On 1 May 1856, Ascension Day, the Catholic University Church in Dublin, was solemnly blessed and opened. It was, in the words of its founder, Dr John Henry Newman (1801-1890), a “beautiful and imposing structure†which gave the University “a sort of bodily presence in Dublinâ€. It was built on the garden behind 87 St Stephen’s Green, next door to 86, now called Newman House, then known as the University House, seat of the new Catholic University.Much has changed in the 150 years since that day. Though University Church is still there, the University to which it gave symbolic expression has moved on, transformed and translated into University College Dublin, on the Stillorgan Road.
The decision to establish a Catholic university in Dublin was taken at the Synod of Thurles in 1850. In 1851, Dr Newman, formerly Vicar of St Mary’s University Church in Oxford, a convert (since 1845) to Catholicism, and a priest (since1847) of the Oratory founded by St Philip Neri (1515-1595), accepted the invitation to come to Ireland as its first Rector. The new University opened on 3 November 1854.
One of the Rector’s first thoughts was to provide a University church. It would be, primarily, a setting for University preaching. “I cannot well exaggerateâ€, he wrote, “the influence which a series of able preachers … will exert upon … the students of various professions …†It would also bring the University to the notice of the public, who would have access to it. Finally, it would “maintain and symbolize that great principle†of a Catholic University, the “union of Science with Religionâ€.
Very quickly, Dr Newman acquired a site, found a builder – Mr Beardwood, of Westland Row – and appointed an architect, or, rather, an artist, John Hungerford Pollen, to carry out his ideas. “I got acquainted with Mr Pollenâ€, wrote Newman, “and I employed him as my architect, or rather decorator, for my idea was to build a large barn and decorate it in the style of a basilica, with Irish marbles and copies of standard pictures.â€
Those words are the key to understanding and appreciating this unique little church. The early Italian basilicas, to which Newman was referring, have simple exteriors, but internally are richly decorated. That is true also of University Church. Almost all that can be seen of it from the street is the diminutive entrance porch, in red and navy blue brick. In plan, the early Italian basilicas are normally rectangular spaces, divided by columns into a nave and side aisles.
The nave usually terminates in a semi-circular apse. Newman’s church, too, is rectangular in plan, and the sanctuary area, which is raised above the level of the nave, has a semi-circular apse. Unlike its models, however, it is not divided into a nave and side aisles. There was not enough room for that. Instead, the visual impression of columns is conveyed in the decoration of the lower part of the walls by shafts of light-coloured marble, vertically grained, with bases and capitals carved in relief.
Newman’s ‘Irish marbles’ cover the walls to a height of 15 feet. Green, black, red, grey and brown, they come from quarries in Galway, Kilkenny, Cork, Laois and Armagh. Above them are the “copies of standard picturesâ€, canvases, now much darkened by successive layers of varnish, painted in Rome by two French artists whom Newman commissioned especially for this work. (Those on the left wall have been controversially restored – Editor). The subjects chosen were copied from those illustrated by Raphael (1483-1520) for the tapestries he designed for the Sistine Chapel, scenes from the Acts of the Apostles, in which the protagonists are St Peter and St Paul. Between the scenes are figures of the apostles, copied from other paintings which, in Newman’s time, were attributed to Raphael.
A prominent feature of the church is the pulpit, handsomely faced with Irish marble and carried on four columns with carved capitals representing the symbols of the evangelists. Newman himself preached eight sermons from this pulpit in the months which followed the opening of the church.
Almost opposite is a narrow gallery, supported by marble columns, black and brown, like those under the pulpit. These, too, have carved capitals, with grapes, shamrock, passion-flowers etc. All these carvings, as well as the lattice-work and the candlesticks on the altar, were carried out under the supervision of John Hungerford Pollen.
Pollen’s own work may be seen on the ceiling, where he created a pattern of vine tendrils, on a light green ground, with the timbers painted in red. He also painted the 11 lunettes on the side-walls, each with a saint flanked by two angels, and some foliage. The saints in the sanctuary are Patrick, Brigid and Laurence O’Toole. In the nave, the saints have particular relevance to preaching and teaching. They include Dominic and Benedict, Thomas Aquinas and Anthony of Padua, Philip Neri and Ignatius Loyola.
Pollen’s masterpiece in painting is the semi-dome of the apse. There, against a gold background, the branches of a vine form a pattern of loops and circles, in which are saints, bearing palm branches. In the centre is the Sedes Sapientiae, “Our Lady Seat of Wisdom†– one of the titles of University Church.
By November 1856, all this decoration was complete. In November 1858, Newman ceased to be Rector of the Catholic University, and returned to England for good.
In May 1879, he was created Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII and he died in August 1890. After his death, a white marble portrait bust, by the Dublin sculptor Thomas Farrell, was set up in University Church. Looking at it now, we may perhaps reflect that not just the marble bust but the church itself is an image of the Catholic University’s first Rector.
This article first appeared in The Word.@Fearg wrote:
I Have to say, they made a fairly crap job in cobbling the bits and pieces together in both locations..
20 years on the 17th of this month since the disaster in Derry was dedicated…
Yes, it is little better than lego.
The panel in Enniscorthy clearly came form the mensa of the Altar in Derry – depicting, as it does, the sacrifice of Abraham which was usually accompanied by those of Abel and Melchisadeck because of their appearance in the text of the Roman Canon (or Eucharistic Prayer I ans it is now blandly referred to).
@Fearg wrote:
I think those angels were originally at each corner of the central throne of the reredos – 2 of them are still in Derry to hide the join where the truncated remains of the throne were stuck together (in place of the foliage pattern where the original panels meet). Have to say, they made a fairly crap job in cobbling the bits and pieces together in both locations..
20 years on the 17th of this month since the disaster in Derry was dedicated…
Well, I have to say, that at least we will know where to find them when the no so far distant restoration of Derry begins. Anyone with any nose for the “liturgical” signs of the times must surely realise what the direction the wind is blowing in.
Indeed, but it must be said that the insertion of the two angles -which probably were at either side of the Tabernacle in Derry- over the the capitals of the colonettes and under the altar table is architecturally absurd.
The Church of St. Ignatius Lyola, Gyor, Hungary
An interesting photographic study:
Some further views of the recently restored interior of the Capella Paolina in the Palazzo Apostolico in Vaticano:
…and as for the “enjoyment of …the sacraments” well what kind of theological idea lurks at the back of such an obviously secular approach to the sacraments? Is an obsequies “enjoyed” in the manner of a foot-ball match or a piece of theatre? Please. give us a break!
@apelles wrote:
HOLY CROSS PARISH CHURCH IMPROVEMENT COMPETITION WINNER
Niall D Brennan Associates (http://www.ndba.ie) have won the Holy Cross Parish Church Improvement Competition. The announcement of the winner was made today at the opening of the exhibition of the competition entries in the Parish Hall, beneath Holy Cross Church on Main Street, Dundrum, Dublin 14. The exhibition runs until Sunday, 29 November 2009.
The RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) administered the competition on behalf of the promoters, Holy Cross Parish Development Building Committee. The committee sought ideas from RIAI Members and Fellows who had experience or were interested in ecclesiastical works to suggest improvements to the existing parish church building.
Holy Cross Church, a protected structure on Main Street, Dundrum is located in the centre of Dundrum village since the 1800s. The village has seen enormous physical change to the built environment around it in the last number of years. The physical importance of the church, as a significant part of the landscape has reduced against the new backdrop of commerce generated by Phase One of the Dundrum Town Centre, large apartment blocks and the by-pass roadway. Phase Two of Dundrum centre will have an even greater impact.
The range of issues to be addressed and the potential for conflicting solutions required skilful balance in the ideas put forward and made for challenging responses in the 23 diverse submissions received. The competition will be of considerable benefit to the Parish of Holy Cross in clarifying the brief to be prepared for works to secure innovative improvements to the church which, it is hoped, will be implemented shortly following Diocesan approval.
Commenting on Niall D Brennan Associates’ winning submission, the jury noted that the submission’s concept addressed areas of particular interest in the brief. The creation of a Welcome Area including the baptismal font would add to the enjoyment of and participation in church celebrations and sacraments. A simple glazed entrance screen incorporating images of the parish notices was considered to be very successful and movement and circulation were well considered for all liturgical events.
One question..What exactly does it mean if a ‘structure is protected’ in terms of improvement..is it that your not allowed to use one of them big crane thingys with a ball & chain?
http://www.riai.ie/news/article/holy_cross_parish_church_improvement_competition_winner/
This is yet another example of the application of a rather dated and trite solution -“gathering area”- alraedy well on the way to abandonment in the United States. Again the spectre of the Chicago liturgical institute rears its ugly head.
The Church of the Holy Cross at Skatin (Skookumchuck) in British Columbia (1895-1906)
This church was built by local craftsmen to designs taken from postcards of Chartres and St. Denis. Even today it is accessible with great difficulty along the log-roads.
http://www.michaelkluckner.com/Site%20images/bciw6skookumchuck.JPG
A note on Emile Grouard:
“Émile Jean Baptiste Marie Grouard was born in Brûlon, France, on the 2nd of February, 1840. He remained in France until 1860, when he ventured across the Atlantic to Quebec for studies at Laval University. He joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and, in 1862, was welcomed into the Roman Catholic Church as a priest. Grouard would serve the balance of his life and career as a missionary in northern Alberta. He came first to Fort Chipewyan, then moved further west into the Athabasca and Peace River country. He spent time at the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires mission in Lac La Biche, St. Charles mission at Dunvegan and St. Bernard mission on the shores of Lesser Slave Lake. The Church eventually named Grouard bishop then, in 1910, vicar apostolic in the Athabasca country.
Grouard was a promoter of the arts and their spiritual applications. On a return trip from Europe in 1877, he brought a printing press to the Lac La Biche Mission and worked on the production of religious texts, which he had translated into the Cree and Chipewyan languages. In 1884 he painted the iconography of the St. Charles Mission church at Dunvegan. Elements of this original work can still be seen in the restored church at the Fort Dunvegan Historic Site.Grouard’s impact upon the peoples of northern Alberta was substantial, giving 60 years of his life in their service through the Roman Catholic Church. He also left his mark upon the treaty-making process. Believing that it would better their conditions, he encouraged his region’s First Nations people to take treaty, and was present for the initial signing of Treaty 8 at Lesser Slave Lake in the summer of 1899.
In 1923, Bishop Grouard published his memoirs, entitled “Souvenirs de mes soixante ans d’apostolat dans l’Athabasca Mackenzie,” (Recollections of sixty years in Athabasca – Mackenzie). He passed away eight years later, on 7 March 1931, on the shores of Lesser Slave Lake, in the town that now bears his name”.
Fort Dunvegan, Alberta
The Mission Church of St. Charles (1883-1884) by Frs. Emile Grouard and Augustin Husson.
The Church of the Holy Name, Toronto (1915) by Arthur Holmes, “almost the only visual event in the two-story flatland of of Danforth Avenue, east of the Don river. It sits on a rise of land, visible for a mile away in both directions, gladdening the heartof Riversdale”.
Eglise Ste-Marguerite-Marie, Montreal, by Ernest Comier 1924
The Chapel of the Convent of the Soeurs Grises de la Charité de Montréal:
Victor Bourgeau begun in 1869; tower built in 1890 by Maurice Perrault and Albert Mesnard.
@apelles wrote:
Bono representing Ireland…That’s unusual..
What’s the difference between God & Bono? God doesn’t believe he’s Bono.
Interesting!
Benedict XVI and the encounter with artists in the Sixtine Chapel, 21 November 2009
Here is a partial list of some 500 artists from all disciplines who were present in the sixtine chapel:
Circa cinquecento gli inviti recapitati, a creativi ritenuti rappresentativi di tutte le discipline, dalla pittura alla scultura, architettura, letteratura e poesia, musica e canto, cinema, teatro, danza, fotografia. Fra gli ospiti internazionali hanno confermato la loro presenza Daniel Libeskind, Santiago Calatrava, Bob Wilson, Peter Greenaway, Bono, Anish Kapoor, David Chipperfield, Zaha Hadid, Carsten Nicolai, F. Murray Abraham, Ami Stewart.
Più folta la pattuglia italiana, con presenze che per le arti visive vanno da Jannis Kounellis a Getulio Alviani, Bruno Ceccobelli, Sandro Chia, Nicola De Maria, Giosetta Fioroni, Giuseppe Gallo, Mimmo Jodice, Mimmo Paladino, Giulio Paolini, Arnaldo Pomodoro. Fra i molti altri, presenti anche Vittorio Gregotti, Paolo Portoghesi, Alberto Arbasino, Alberto Bevilacqua, Claudio Magris, Andrea Bocelli, Angelo Branduardi, Riccardo Cocciante, Ennio Morricone, Sergio Castellitto, Dante Ferretti, Arnoldo Foà , Carla Fracci, Mario Monicelli, Nanni Moretti, Franco Zeffirelli.
