Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, Cork Independent, 8 July 2010

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 219)

Memories and Hidden Corners

 “I am influenced by the existence of an invisible world within nature where there are elusive processes, transformations and interactions of phenomenae. Inspiration is drawn from often overlooked, everyday environments, shadows, atmospheres, trails and hidden corners” (Lucey Dawe Lane, Fractals Exhibition, June 2010, Crawford College Art and Design)

A journey to the annual Crawford College of Art’s graduate exhibition offers the viewer new ways of not only seeing art but ways of seeing everyday and ordinary views one takes for granted. I feel that Lucey’s quote above sums up some of my own key feelings on St. Peter’s Church. There are many treasures to reflect on here, which the column has been investigating in the last number of weeks. However, I am also taken by the idea that the exploration of the hidden corners of heritage are as important as mainstream histories.

St. Peter’s Church is alive with images and Christian symbolism that informs my own experience of the space, how I photograph it, walk around it slowly and how even how I sit in the beautifully carved pews. Indeed, over the altar arch, the inscription invites one to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”. There is an enormous thread of beauty and nostalgia running through the building. The church is a place which grabs you, draws one in – it connects one to an ideology.

Light hitting the small brass plaques on the pews flicker names of people who sat there and tell of a past social order in operation within the pews – it reflects on a different age where the pews were a type of private property, for the exclusive use of specific individuals or families, or linked to particular properties. In a paper by Spencer Thomas in the Journal The Local Historian, published by the British Association for Local History in 2009, he notes that churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the coming of the Protestant Reformation. The rise of the sermon as a central act of Christian worship, especially in Protestantism, made the pew an indispensable item of church furniture. Gradually the pews came into existence and in the period between 1600 and 1800, when everything was about social stature, pews were also used to distinguish between the various social classes. Classes of higher strata only had the opportunity to sit in the pews closest to the pulpit.

In St. Peter’s the brass plaques list the following: police, clergymen, officers of Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills and families such as the Pratts of Gawsworth, Pratts of Beechmount, Austins, Coopers, Chadwicks, and family members of Carrigrohane Lodge, Kitsboro, Rock Lodge, Rockrohan, Mount Desert, Roseanna, Carrigrohane Castle, Leemount and Parknamore.

A collection of plaques on the walls of the central part of the church illuminate other key names associated with the church and highlight the human memory within the building. One plaque remembers Robert Pratt, J.P. of Gawsworth, Carrigrohane (1835-1910). He was son of Major Henry Pratt, 58^th Regiment. The plaque was erected by his widow Anna Maria, daughter of Austin Cooper Chadwick of Damerville, Co. Tipperary. Another plaque recalls Richard Henderson Fetherstonhaugh, second son of Theobald Fetherstonhaugh of Newtown, Moate, Co.Westmeath, who died in 1902. Margaret was the wife of Captain William Harris who died in 1847, aged 51. The plaque was erected by her son John Harris.

Another inscription on a plaque highlights Lieutenant General Vere Hunt Bowles, Colonel of the Manchester Regiment who died at Patti in 1904. The plaque also highlights his wife Ellen Anne who died in 1911. It was put up to commemorate the twenty years the couple worshipped in the church under the ministry of Chancellor Dobbin.

Mary Hennessy of Millhouse Carrigrohane died in 1936. The plaque was erected by her son Sir Patrick Hennessey. Helena was the wife of Patrick Persse Fitzpatrick from Shrubs Co. Dublin. She died in 1821, aged 31. John Colthurst of Carrigrohane is also remembered. He is recorded as Lieutenant Colonel of the City of Cork Militia who died in 1839 aged 74 years.

On the baptismal font in the centre of the church, a brass plaque remembers Mary A. McGovern who died in 1937, aged 92 years. At the back of the church, a plaque on the wall immortalises Major John Doyle of the 72^nd Highlanders, who died in Ballincollig in 1853, aged 68. On the right hand side wall (facing the altar), Ebenezer Pike of Hertfordshire, formerly of Kilcrenagh, Carrigrohane, who died in 1931 is remembered. Perhaps, the most sentimental of plaques was erected by G. Dolmage, a surgeon of the 8^th K.R.I. Hussars in memory of his wife Julia, who died in Ballincollig in 1847, aged 29 years. He speaks through the plaque of his young wife being taken early from him, leaving children and leaving him an “afflicted husband”. However, this a hidden corner of St. Peter’s where this sad marker seems to highlight that even in the past, humanity was also important. This plaque for me is also powerful in animating, colouring and breathing further life into the physical human fabric and historical text of St. Peter’s sites as a site of memory within the Lee valley.

To be continued…

Captions:

547a. Murphy family plot in graveyard of St Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

547b. Detail of pew head, interior of St. Peter’s Church

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, Cork Independent

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 218)

A Caretaker of the Past

I have made the journey so many times to the local studies section of Cork City Library. The journey through the reference section to the top floor brings one up a quiet stairwell brings one into the haven where anything to do with Cork is kept. I have always being amazed at the multiple cabinets in the local history room. In these cabinets, the books reveal layers upon layers of insights into Cork life. In many of these books, attempts are made to explain and understand Cork, it’s very soul and identity.

Not everything is documented and there have been times when I have to dig deep into newpapers or even the index of the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. The Journal is an impressive treasure trove of historical facts that seeks to protect in a sense the region’s past.

Within the early days of this journal, the name Robert Day emerges as a principal caretaker of Cork’s past. He was the grandfather of the noted writer and lithographer Robert Gibbings, whose career the column last week briefly outlined. Robert is buried in the burial ground of St. Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane. Dr. Philip G. Lee’s obituary of Robert Day in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society in 1914 reveals another side to Cork’s heritage, those who mind it and their motivations. Robert Day (1836-1914) was a caretaker of Cork’s past.

Born in 1836, Robert was involved in his family’s extensive addler business together with a sports shop well known to Cork anglers on St Patrick’s Street. He was married to Rebecca Scott in 1857. Rebecca belonged to the Scott family who had an extensive ironmongery business in King Street (now McCurtain Street). They had four daughters and four sons.

During his lifetime, he developed an interest in Irish archaeology and seemed to become a well-rounded academic specialising in Irish antiquities. He amassed a unique and comprehensive museum of antiquities, from the Stone age, the early Iron Age and the Medieval period, down to the late eighteenth century, which included a collection of the insignia connected with the Irish volunteers of 1782. At historical meetings he showed some of his collection to other members.

Reputedly, Robert was a man of quiet disposition but with a strong character. He investigated and questioned the objects in his collection whilst listening to the opinions of other interested parties and professionals. He also generously loaned portions of his great collection to various exhibitions, notably to the Irish Exhibition, London and to the Chicago Exhibition.

On his death, an enormous collection of Irish Archaeological artefacts were auctioned off in 1915. They later turned up in the collections of John Hunt in Limerick, Walter J. Verschoyle-Campbell, as well as in those of the Birmingham Archaeological Society, the Louth Archaeological Society, the Ulster Museum and the National Museum of Ireland. An ongoing project at the Department of Archaeology, University College Cork is seeking to trace items from this auction.

Robert Day was also past president of the Cork Literary and Scientific Society. He was Trustee of the Cork Savings Bank and of the South Charitable Infirmary, member of the Royal Irish Academy, Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, and member of many other learned associations at home and abroad and was one of the governors of the Commercial Buildings, Cork.

As a President of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society from 1894 to 1914, he strove to keep the organisation and its work to the highest possible standard. As editor of its Journal, it is apparent, he sought to publish material that was meticulously researched and there is a sense the material was in danger of being lost if not published. He contributed much to the Journal between 1892 and 1911. In his own myriad of articles in the journals he seemed to have an interest in a number of topics but a clear focus at least can be seen on the history of the Irish volunteers of 1798, the use of metals – bronze and gold in Irish prehistory as well as Cork silver. He detailed the work of fellow antiquarians, contemporary and from decades previously. He edited the society’s reprint of Charles Smith’s History of Cork, which he annotated from the manuscripts of antiquarians Thomas Crofton Croker and Richard Caulfield.

Robert also had an interest in photography and was one of the first to take a camera into Cork City and around its region to capture various scenes of early photographs date from the 1860s. They are atmospheric and depict a Cork which in many ways has disappeared. The pictures are now part of the Day collection which also has photographs by his son William Tottenham Day 1874-1965 and grandson Alec 1902-1980.

The work of Robert Day for me represents the enormous collections that exist in the public realm. However perhaps Robert’s work is also a quest to understand and explain the unknown and to harness it in a contemporary world. In addition, he is part of a distinct set of local historians that have set a precedent in the research and preservation of Cork’s local history.

To be continued…

Captions:

546a. Picture of Robert Day (source: Journal of Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1914)

546b. Advertisement for Robert Day & Son in 1919 (source Cork: Its Trade and Commerce)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town article, Cork Independent

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 217)

A Labour of Love

Within the altar area of St. Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane lies a handsome marble dado which was erected in 1901, as a memorial to Rev. Robert Samuel Gregg who later became Primate Gregg. The dado is in panels of Cork, Carrara and Connemara marbles – red-white and green with artistically carved pattern. The chancel was also paved with mosaic.

On the right hand side of the altar, a memorial remembers Rev Edward Gibbings, Canon of Cork Cathedral in 1916 and Rector of Carrigrohane Parish, 1902-1924. The memorial evocatively invites one to reflect on the power of heritage in terms of faith and hope. The memorial notes: “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”. The elaborative carved eagle is in memory of Edward’s wife Caroline (nee Day) who died on 7 May 1907. She was the eldest daughter of Robert and Rebecca Day of Cork. Robert Day was an antiquarian, fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a founder and president of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.

A son of Edward and Caroline was Robert Gibbings (1889- 1958). He became an Irish artist and author who was most noted for his work as a wood carver and engraver and for his books on travel and natural history. Martin J Andrews in 2003 compiled an elaborate autobiography of the man, entitled The Life and Work of Robert Gibbings from which I attained the following information. In addition, Cork’s Crawford Municipal Art Gallery recently presented an insighful exhibition of some of his work.

Robert grew up in the town of Kinsale where his father was the rector of St. Multose church and he developed a love of the wonders of nature and wildlife on the beautiful banks of the Bandon River. His love for boats and the sea was gained at an early age. He was greatly influenced by his maternal grandfather, Robert Day who was a passionate collector. His home, Myrtle Hill House, was a treasury of art and rare, interesting objects.

From early childhood Robert wished to pursue art as a career. This however was not in keeping with his parents’ wishes and it was decided that he should become a doctor. He began his medical studies in Cork University in 1907, the year his mother died. He studied medicine for three years at University College Cork before deciding to persuade his father to allow him to take up art. He studied under the painter Harry Scully in Cork and later at the Slade School of Art and the Central School of Art. Both the latter being premier art and design institutions in the UK.

During the First World War Robert served in the Royal Munster Fusiliers and was wounded at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles. He was invalided out and resumed his studies in London. In 1919 he married Moira Pennefather, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Graham Pennefather from Tipperary. He had four children withMoira. During this time, Robert’s illustrations began to appear in books. He provided the illustrations The Canterbury Tales and The Four Gospels and an edition of Pierre de Bourdeille’s Vies des Dames galantes (The Lives of the Gallant Ladies), tales printed by the Golden Cockerel Press. This small company was based in the countryside at Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire.

Robert eventually bought control of the Golden Cockerel Press, and proceeded to publish a range of limited edition books, illustrated by himself and fellow members of the Society of Wood Engravers. Robert remained the proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press from 1924 until 1933, when he sold it to a fellow native of Cork, Christopher Sandford.

However, financial pressures and associated pressures eventually led to a break-up with Robert and his wife. In time Robert married a second time. She was Elisabeth Empson, whom he married in 1937 and with whom he was to have three children. His work Blue Angels and Whales, was published by Penguin Books in 1938 and gave his talent for writing and illustrating much greater exposure. With the advent of World War II, Elizabeth and the children emigrated to Canada for safety reasons, while Robert taught book design and production at the University of Reading. In 1939 he built himself a punt, the Willow, and floated down the Thames. His observations on the countryside, the river and its natural history, were the fruits of months spent on the Thames, accompanied by sketch pad and microscope. Written at the time of the Battle of Britain, the book captivated readers, aware that the world it portrayed was under threat of being wiped out. It’s very positive reception led to further work on rivers, Coming down the Wye, Lovely is the Lee and Coming down the Seine.

 The bearded figure of Robert Gibbings also became a familiar sight on British television, as was his voice to radio listeners, and massive sales of his books. It is said that David Attenborough remembers Robert as being one of the inspiring influences at the start of his career. Robert died at Long Wittenham on the banks of the Thames in January 1958.

To be continued…

Captions:

545a. Robert Gibbings, c.1950 Gougane Barra (pictures: Cronin family collection, Gougane Barra)

545b. Sculptured piece representing Robert Gibbings by Marshall C. Hutson, c.1944

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, Cork Independent

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 216)

A Work of Faith

On my visits to St Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane, I am always impressed by the beautiful cut stone structure and spire. The Church for me offers a very good example of the power of architecture and its importance as a type of additional text which complements how one examines the power of landscape and all the memories it holds.

In 1896 the cut stone spire, replaced the 1851 timber and slate edition. The plans for this were completed by William Henry Hill of Cork. The Irish Architectural Archive outlines the background to William Henry Hill who brought another set of skills and memories to St. Peter’s. Born in 1837, he was son of the architect William Hill of Cork. He was educated at Hamblin and Porter’s School, Cork, before being apprenticed to his uncle, Henry Hill, from 1853 until 1859. In the latter year he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Engineering from Queen’s College, Cork and the Royal University.

William Henry spent eighteen months as a draughtsman with the Board of Public Works in Dublin before being appointed inspecting architect for the Dioceses of Down, Connor & Dromore under the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1860. He was promoted to the southern district and held the latter post until the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1870, when he set up in private practice in Cork. In addition to his privately commissioned work, he was diocesan architect for the Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross from 1872 until circa 1878. He was consulting architect to the Cork Lunatic Asylum Board for nearly forty years. In 1894 he was asked to report on the condition of the Cork Municipal Buildings, a structure that became Cork City Hall.

William was married to Marian (daughter of W.J. Tomkins) by whom he had four sons and seven daughters. His eldest son, William Henry Hill joined him in his practice in 1899. The National Architectural Archive lists 174 entries of William senior’s work, which includes the spire of St. Peter’s Church. His work at Carrigrohane came shortly after his four year design work on the Cork City Courthouse, which had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1891. In terms of spires and towers, he had worked on the design of the church spire of St. Luke’s Church in Douglas in 1884 and prior to that had designed St Mary’s Church in Sunday’s Well.

The spire of St. Peter’s Church, which was built in the late 1800s possibly needed to be replaced but also, probably heralded the advent of the twentieth century and probably was one of the last Gothic structures to be built in Ireland and that form of style filtered out. St Peter’s Church in Carrigrohane was to have a new image, an almost rebranding.

The term Gothic was coined by classicizing Italian writers of the Renaissance, who attributed the invention (and what to them was the non-classical ugliness) of medieval architecture to the barbarian Gothic tribes that had destroyed the Roman Empire and its classical culture in the 5th century AD. Beginning in 12th century France, it was known as “the French Style”, with the term Gothic first appearing in the Reformation era as a stylistic insult. The ideas of Gothic architecture were re-invented in the mid nineteenth century by English art critic and social thinker John Ruskin and architect Augustus Pugin. The re-invention became very prevalent in Britain and Ireland. The church in the Middle Ages was deemed a place that all people, regardless of class, could belong to. The various emblems with a Gothic cathedral represented the universe in microcosm.

In the late nineteenth century, society re-engaged with emblems of ideology and political debate that were attached to the gothic style. The emblems manifested in the actual stone itself. Gothic as a style was chosen as it could express and illuminate an idea. The sheer presence, size and weight of a Gothic stylised building within the landscape were enormous. A dramatic setting seems to be produced, which is one of the reasons why I was drawn to St. Peter’s. I like the way the spire seemingly lifts itself and the adjoining structure off the ground, reaching to the sky. The spire has a sense of nobility and a kind of majesty.

The vistas and height of a Gothic church was to bring one closer to God. The tall spires of medieval Gothic cathedrals expressed the human ambition to transcend the natural world and touch the supernatural realm. The experience of looking at one of the great gothic cathedrals is to look up towards God. Indeed, most Gothic structures emphasize the vertical, drawing one’s eyes upwards toward the heavens with the awesomeness of God. The effect perhaps is that the human eye also adds a kind of structural strength and solidity to the building. A positive and solitary atmosphere seems to be created.

Similarly, within the interior of St. Peter’s, within the chancel a positive atmosphere is also created and a combination of local history and religious symbolism also unite. There are a number of treasures here as well. The memorials, impressive carved oak communion table and pulpit offer their own memories.

To be continued…

Captions:

544a. St. Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane, June 2010 (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

544b. St. Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane from Church Road

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town article, Cork Independent

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 215)

Through the Stained Glass

The stained glass window seems to not only remember Arthur Lionel Tobin of Ballincollig and his tragic death in action in India but also connects to other places and worlds of thinking. The stained glass window holds the threads in a sense of other stories as well – people, conflicts, plots, and metaphors across spatial and temporal boundaries. Here seems to be a coloured world that provokes the imagination.

The window connects to a biblical literature. The window depicts morals – indeed perhaps a view of a world that spans time and space. The three figures are contained with a gothic frame – two of the images contain significant actions – the taking of a winged dragon from a castle and the third holding a sword. Reading up about temperance in the context of the bible, it involves action is self-preservation. Virtues aligned with temperance tend to include abstinence, sobriety, chastity, purity, continence, humility, gentleness, clemency, modesty and lack of greed. The virtue of fortitude enables a person to stand firm against and endure the hardships of life and to remain steadfast in pursuit of what is good.

The window In St Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane was executed by Henry Holiday and W.G Saunders, two major figures in stained glass art of the nineteenth century. London man, Henry Holiday was an English historical genre and landscape painter, stained glass designer, illustrator and sculptor. He is considered to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art. In particular he spent alot of time in the Lake District. He spent much of his time sketching the views which were to be seen from the various hills and mountains.

In 1861, Henry Holiday (1839 –1927) accepted the job of stained glass window designer for Powell’s Glass Works in Whitefriars in North Yorkshire. Interestingly he took over after Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones had left to work for Morris & Co. Sir Edward was an eminent British artist and designer. He was closely involved in the rejuvenation of the tradition of stained glass art in England. Henry Holiday was a frequent visitor to the studios of Sir Edward Burne-Jones at his home in London and Sir Edward’s influence on him is said to be felt in his work.

Powell’s Glass Works made stained glass windows and by 1854 the firm were experimenting with the chemical mixes to achieve medieval coloured glass for Charles Winston, an authority in cathedral and church window restoration. Through his recommendation Powell was supplying Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones with stained glass muff with the right mix of air bubbles and brilliant natural colours to match medieval glass. Soon Powell Glass Works was commissioning cartoons from Edward Burne-Jones, Henry Holiday, Anning Bell, Edward Poynter, Ford Maddox Brown and George Cattermole.

Henry Holiday in his time at Powell’s fulfilled over 300 commissions, mostly for customers in the USA. It was in the early stage of his move to Powell’s, that he was engaged in the design of St Peter’s Carrigrohane. Henry Holiday left in 1891 to set up his own glass works in Hampstead, producing stained glass, mosaics, enamels and sacerdotal objects. Apart from Carrigrohane, Holiday’s stained glass work can be found all over Britain but some of his best is at Westminster Abbey (the Isambard Kingdom Brunel memorial window, 1868), St. Luke’s church in Kentish Town and St. Mary Magdalene in Paddington (1869). Henry Holiday was also involved in illustrating Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Hunting of the Snark’, and the first edition of ‘Through the Looking Glass’.

W. Gualbert Saunders (1837-1923) appears as a pupil of William Burges in 1865 and made furniture and tiles for him but the association was based on the supply of stained glass.  Saunders was briefly associated with Henry Holiday in the 1860s He started his own manufactory in 1869 and made stained glass for the Gothic Revival architect William Burges in the 1870s. Saunders employed designers such as eminent stained glass artist Christopher Whitworth Whall and Horatio Walter Lonsdale, an architectural artist.

It is possible that Dr Henry T.M. Hodder sought out artists such as Henry Holiday and W.G. Saunders to carry out the wishes of the Tobin Family. On the death of Dr. Hodder in 1864, Rev. Robert Samuel Gregg (1834–1896) became the next precentor. Gregg was originally from Belfast and was educated in Trinity College Dublin from which he attained an MA in 1860. He was incumbent of Christ Church, Belfast for a time. He became rector of Frankland and chaplain to John Gregg as bishop of Cork, 1862.

In 1865, John Gregg became rector of Carrigrohane and preceptor of St. Finbarre’s Cathedral, Cork. He received his doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in 1873 and in 1874 became Dean of Cork. During his time at St. Finbarre’s Cathedral, he would have overseen the work of William Burges who was designing and with a team building a new cathedral. Subsequently in 1875, John became bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin and Bishop of Cork in 1878. He later became archbishop of Armagh in 1893. In 1866-7, Rev. Gregg invested in a new annexe to the body of St. Peter’s Church after plans by William Burges.

To be continued…

Captions:

543a. Windows in William Burges’ designed annexe, built c.1866, St. Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

543b. Close up of ‘fortitude’- stained glass window

Kieran’s book launch of Inheritance: Heritage and Memory in the Lee Valley

My thanks to Margaret Griffin of Griffin’s Garden Centre for hosting the event, Dripsey Community Association for their help in organising the event, Cllr John Kelleher, deputising for the Lord Mayor, who launched it and everyone who came out to support the launch.

 About the book: http://kieranmccarthy.ie/?p=2415

 sales: http://www.thehistorypress.ie/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=493

Pictures of the great night below!

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town article, Cork Independent

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 213)

Humanising History

The late nineteenth century structure of St. Peter’s Church Carrigrohane sits atop Church Road Hill in Carrigrohane and within a quietness overlooking in particular the western fringes of Bishopstown, Cork City. For me I delight in walking across such spaces. There is also a kind of magical feel about such places.

In St Peter’s Church graveyard, the rusted Victorian chains around some graves reveal the forgotten traditions of minding the dead in Victorian times. Similarly, the multiple headstones now lean to one and have lost their foothold in the landscape and maybe in memory too as the names and dates fade on the stone. It’s seems easy to romanticise such a place but as I sit on the grass in the graveyard snapping pictures I do think of all the people buried here and the various centuries represented and perhaps some events they might have seen in their lives and all those people who make a regular pilgrimage to them.

Brady in his 1863 book on the churches of County Cork  reveal a deeper legacy than the nineteenth century building. In fact, there have been people walking across this space for over 700 years. A parish church is mentioned in Carrigrohane in the year 1291 and is rated at four marks. It probably complimented the nearby De Cogan Castle at Carrigrohane. The De Cogans were of Anglo-Normans descent and had been involved in constructing the walled town of Cork and possessed much land in the Cork area.

Through reading up more on the idea of a sacred place and why people engage with churches and religion, I was interested to read up on a number of points. These books brought me to pilgrimage practices in Ireland, Italy, and Japan. There is an argument by pilgrimage scholars that at churches that a sense of place is forged on the edge of the real and heavenly world, the known and invisible world – that the divine presence was real and accessible –that that the divine could be seen and touched. In addition to become conscious of the sacred and the powerful sense of mystery people carry and display a whole series of personal emotions. The human experience conjures up multiple feelings-of belief, faith, hope, expectation, motivation, intellectual inspiration and inquisitiveness, all in a search for forgiveness and an epiphany. I think these are very relevant points and perhaps humanise the experience of the heritage of religion as well. That is not just the facts, structure, artefacts, oral histories that need minding but also the traits that perhaps bind the human condition together.

Sometimes, I also forget about the human side of minding and making churches relevant to people in today’s world- the level that someone had to take over the building, and make the building meaningful to a community and  be a leader.  

Very little is known of the leaders in the first three hundred years of the history of St. Peter’s Church. It is only in the turbulent years of King Henry VIII when one gets further information through the survey work he pursued of churches in Britain and Ireland. In 1543, William Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, Chaplain, was appointed precentor by the crown. The position was vacant and at the King’s disposal. The previous incumbent is noted as of Irish descent.A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship.

By the year 1582, John Gould was precentor in Carrigrohane. In the year 1591, Dionisius Cambell appears as Precentor. Cambell was from Scotland and had been Archdeacon and subsequently Dean of Limerick. He was rector in Dromclifee in Killaloe and in the year 1588 was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Limerick. In 1591, he came to Carrigrohane. In the year 1603 he was nominated to the sees of Derry, Raphoe and Clogher. Unfortunately he died before his consecration in London in 1603. By 1612 John Alden is in place as precentor in Carrigrohane. He eventually moved on to Clonmel and Israel Taylor took over. In 1615, a curate Richard Allen was also provided for. A this time also, the chancel of the church was in ruins and had to be replaced. The structure held about 70 people.

In 1641, Israel Taylor’s property at Carrigrohane amounting to £680 was taken from him due to the mounting political situation in Ireland and protests from the Protestant class about their rights within Ireland. In post Cromwellian times in 1661, Philemon Fitzsymons appears at Precentor. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and worked in Cloyne, Youghal and Inniscarra before taking up his position at Carrigrohane. Three years later he died. His successor was Richard Clerke who graduated from TCD in 1664 and held positions in Cloyne and Lismore before taking over responsibility. 

When one fast forwards through time, new names appear as precentors – Walter Neale (1686), Rowland Davies (1706), Peter Hewet (1710), Thomas Russell (1720), Jemmet Browne (1724), Peter Waterhouse (1732) and Edward Browne (1750), John Chetwynd (1752), Thomas Browne (1757), Thomas Waterhouse (1762), Samuel Woodroffe (1762), John Chetwood (1780), Henry Sandiford (1790).  In addition, Charles Smith in his History of Cork in the year 1750 writes about a new church built on the ruins of the old one in the early eighteenth century.

To be continued…

Captions:

541a. St. Peter’s Church Carrigrohane, May 2010 (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

541b. River Lee at Leemount Bridge, May 2010