Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 12 September 2013

New Book – Journeys of Faith

Following on from last week’s article, to mark the 75^th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, my new book, Journeys of Faith celebrates its story. I’d like to share some of the earlier thoughts of the book especially the early origins of the church and its origins. Personally I find the story of the early Irish Free State fascinating especially in terms of its ambition and determinism to achieve goals.

The prominence of the Roman Catholic Church in Irish society and Cork society was significant in the Irish Free State. Daniel Cohalan (1858–1952) served as Bishop of Cork from 1916 to 24 August 1952 and he defined the sense of religion in the city during his time.  For many of the early years Cohalan found himself commenting on the nationalist independence struggles of the day. He attempted to take the middle ground in a struggle that was rapidly deteriorating into chaos and atrocity. His anti-violence attitude was the guiding principle in his episcopacy. He had a crucial role in condemning the 1916 rising and pressed that the Volunteers including Cork leaders Tomás MacCurtain and Terence McSwiney stand down in the face of superior Crown forces. Cohalan was eager to avoid bloodshed and having the city plunged into chaos. In 1918 Bishop Cohalan campaigned against conscription into the British army. Whilst attending a public meeting in Cork, he made it clear that conscripting Irishmen to fight Britain’s wars was unacceptable.

The 1920 burning of Cork City by the Black and Tans (following the Dillon’s Cross and other local and regional ambushes) resulted in a city and region dominated by the gun and violence. It prompted Bishop Cohalan to issue a decree of excommunication against those who perpetrated violence in any form. It was issued in SS Mary’s and Anne’s North Cathedral on 12 December 1920. This did not calm the situation. The IRA was unhappy with the decision and the position of the local Catholic Church especially as a number of the clergy were active in the IRA. Cohalan remained steadfast on the controversy isolating himself from republican parishioners and clergy, even to the point of refusing a Catholic burial to any hunger striker after 1922. To underline his support for law and order, Cohalan welcomed the 1922 Treaty, which established the Free State, agreeing that it was not perfect but was a great “measure of freedom”. This support was preached publicly in the North Cathedral on 10 December 1922.

In 1937 Cohalan turned his attention to the role of the Protestant churches in Ireland. He encouraged the Protestant community of Cork to unite with its Catholic brethren to achieve Christian unity. He even went so far as to suggest to the Protestant Bishop of Cork that they merge the dioceses between them with St Finbarr’s Cathedral presiding over southside districts and the North Cathedral presiding over northside districts. All the Protestant Bishop had to do was to convert to Catholicism!

By the mid 1920′s the South Parish had grown in both population and area to a point where it could no longer function with a single church. In an effort to address the situation, Bishop Cohalan designated Turners Cross as the location for a second parish church to serve the ever-growing congregation. Commissioned in 1927, the church’s modern concrete architectural look initiated an enormous debate amongst those involved in the brick masons’ trade, which saw the use of concrete as cutting jobs for masons in the region. The architect was Chicago-born Barry Byrne (1883-1967) who was a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright. By the late 1920s Byrne had, designed three Catholic Churches in the US to acclaim and criticism. The model for Turners Cross was based on the Church of Christ the King, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1926).

Work on the Turners Cross site began in March 1929. Its heavy foundations went down 15 feet into a marshy stream-like area. A total of 1,200 tons of Condor brand of Portland cement were used in its construction. Its marble terrazzo floor is overlooked by the largest suspended ceiling in a European church and it also possesses the impressive John Storr-designed Christ the King sculpture at its entrance. The church was officially dedicated on 25 October 1931 and set a marker for the future development of large churches in Cork’s suburbs. The notable exception was Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough, planning for which started possibly 2-3 years after Christ the King. As Ballinlough church was a chapel of ease to St Michael’s Blackrock, there was a return to a traditional-looking structure.

More next week…

I will be giving a reflection on the 75^th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in Our Lady of Lourdes Church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and church sacristy from 13 September onwards.

Caption:

708a. Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Article 707- 5 September 2013

Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years

In the past eight months I have been fortunate to interview many people in Ballinlough, my own homeplace, to produce a book to mark the 75^th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Located on a prominent limestone ridge, the church is a familiar, impressive and welcoming landmark in Ballinlough, a south east suburb of Cork City. The building represents one of the multiple threads of community life of the area. Indeed, it can be said that many of the original ideas for the present community infrastructure in Ballinlough, ranging from actual buildings to various sporting and social clubs had their roots amongst the people and priests who created, and in time, added to the meaning of building in the lives of the community.

At the dedication ceremony on Sunday 11 September 1938, the orator of the sermon, Fr Kieran, OFM, Cap spoke at length about the building belonging to the people and the people belonging to the church; “we are gathered and united in one living holy faith this morning in this beautiful little church, planned by Christ-like minds and built by human hands and generous hearts”. Those ideas of hope, self determination, generosity, faith, dedication, and adoration are all starting points to begin a reflection on the past 75 years.

In Our Lady of Lourdes Church, there is a faith in the sacredness of this edifice that has never been relinquished since 1938. It is a thriving and resilient place, a place of aspiration. Here is a faith founded on familiar cultural and personal Christian principles to which those in the present day are heirs; we also carry forward some of that faith and all the ideas that go with it; we continue to build and trust in our faith. The text on the 1935 foundation stone at the side of the building reminds one of this spirit of co-operation in faith and that together the clerical and lay community have brought forward the multiple meanings and memories within the building as a socially inclusive community.

The church is a celebration of re-invention and re-imagination of the faith and initiative in Free State Ireland. A sense of initiative remains constant in the character of the Ballinlough community today. The Bishop of Cork in 1938, Dr Daniel Cohalan, had an interest in harnessing new possibilities, ideas, and new skills, to reach higher and to combine them with ideas of faith. There is a power in faith, in journeying with it. It is our lasting birthright but, it is also about what we do with it. Faith does not have a financial value but, without it, people’s moral compass, personal development and journey in life would certainly be anchored in a different direction.

As its core aims, this book excavates below Ballinlough’s official histories. Its key milestones are presented but the book aims to provide insights and foster debate into the woven relationships between the church, community life, and society. What is presented is a cross-section of Ballinlough residents and those connected to the parish throughout the years. Using the themes of the spirit of co-operation and community building put forward during Fr Kieran’s sermon at the 1938 dedication ceremony, the book aspires to recover and provide a cross-section of voices and personal memories of the most memorable aspects of Ballinlough. It also tries to create a framework of the development of motivations and visions for community life. The book is divided into four parts – firstly it presents the historical framework for the construction of Ballinlough church and the nature of Cork society in the 1920s and 1930s. Secondly memories covering Ballinlough’s market garden heritage and the emergence of the area’s development in the 1930s and 1940s; secondly the book focuses on the construction of the community infrastructure in the period c.1950-c.1980; fourthly the book explores more recent memories and concludes with the perspectives of a cross-section of individuals in the Ballinlough Parish Assembly.

Over 100 people speak at length in this book about their faith, their personal connection to Ballinlough, and its sense of place and how they link to it. They speak about the layered aspects of life such as change, love, hope, uncertainty, fragility, tragedy, integrity, traditions, renewal and imagination and their role in the formation of human values. Interviewees commented on the role of the church in the past and seek to be involved in its future. All merge together to reflect on the mark made on history by Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the wider community, but also their role in the future of Ballinlough and in the wider city and region.

I will be giving a reflection on the 75^th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in the church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and sacristy from 13 September onwards.

Caption:

707a. Front cover of Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years by Kieran McCarthy; cover designed by Alexandria O’Donnell, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ballinlough.

 A great week of walking tours with great numbers averaging above 60 people most evenings, and some hitting 100; thanks to all those who supported the tours and who added their memories to the various tours.

 Crumbling Cork debate, Civic Trust House, 17 August 2013

 Eighteenth century Cork, historical walking tour, 18 August 2013

Shandon Hsistorical Walking Tour, 19 August 2013

 Blackpool Historical Walking Tour, 20 August 2013

 Workhouse in St Finbarr’s Hospital, Thursday 22 August 2013

Mahon Historical Walking Tour, 23 August 2013

 Douglas Historical Walking Tour, Sunday 24 August 2013

Sunday 18 August 2013 – Branding a City-Making a Venice of the North, exploring eighteenth century Cork (new tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy), meet at City Library, Grand Parade, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)

Monday 19 August 2012 – Shandon Historical Walking Tour  with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Discover the City’s richly historical quarter, learn about St Anne’s Church and the development of butter market and the Shandon Street area, meet North Gate Bridge, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)

Tuesday 20 August 2013- Blackpool Historical Walking Tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, From Fair Hill to the heart of Blackpool, learn about nineteenth century shambles, schools, convents and industries, meet at North Mon gates, Gerald Griffin Avenue, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)

Thursday 22 August 2013 – From a Workhouse to a Hospital, The Story of St Finbarr’s Hospital with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Discover the history of the workhouse, meet at entrance gate, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)

Friday 23August 2013, “Where the future and the past meet, A historical walking tour of Mahon, to mark the 100^th anniversary of Dunlocha Cottages” (new tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy), Blackrock Garda Station, top of Avenue De Rennes, Mahon, 7pm (free, duration: 1 ½ hours)

Sunday 25August 2013,  Douglas Historical Walking Tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Discover about the sailcoth and woollen mills, meet at St. Columba’s Church Car Park, Douglas, 2pm (free, duration: two hours)