Holy Trinity Church, Cork

Last updated

Holy Trinity Church
Father Mathew Memorial Church
Holy Trinity Church, Father Matthew Quay, City Centre, Cork 2019.jpg
Location map Ireland Cork Central.png
Red pog.svg
Holy Trinity Church
51°53′44″N8°28′15″W / 51.895553°N 8.4708917°W / 51.895553; -8.4708917
Location Cork
CountryRepublic of Ireland
Denomination Catholic
Religious order Capuchin
Website www.capuchinfranciscans.ie/cork/
History
Status Church
Dedication Theobald Mathew
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s) George Pain, Dominic Coakley, George Ashlin
Style Gothic Revival
Years built1832–1890
Groundbreaking 10 October 1832
Completed13 October 1890
Specifications
Spire height160 feet (49 m)
Materials Limestone
Administration
Archdiocese Cashel and Emly
Diocese Cork and Ross
Parish SS Peter & Paul's

Holy Trinity Church, also known as Father Mathew Memorial Church, is a Roman Catholic Gothic Revival church and friary on Fr. Mathew Quay, on the bank of the River Lee in Cork. It belongs to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and is the only church dedicated to Father Theobald Mathew. [1]

Contents

The building's listing in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage describes it as a "Regency Gothic-style church with Gothic-Revival portico", [2] and it is "one of the first large churches in the south of Ireland to be built in this style." [3] Construction of the church began in the early 1830s but stalled shortly before the Great Famine. It would only be completed in 1890, in time for the centenary of the birth of Fr. Mathew. The church features several noteworthy stained glass windows, including three by Harry Clarke's studio and a large memorial to Daniel O'Connell.

Background

The Capuchin Order arrived in Cork in 1637, thirteen years after the first Capuchin Community in Ireland was established in Dublin. The Cork friary was destroyed at some point in the seventeenth century. Father Bartholomew Mortell subsequently opened a hospice in the city. [4] Most Catholics, including the Capuchins, were expelled from Cork by Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin in 1644, but the friary was reopened five years later, in 1649. This establishment was likely located on the same site as the later South Friary, on Blackamoor Lane, in what is now Cork's South Parish. [5] The South Friary was built in 1771 by the Capuchin preacher Father Arthur O'Leary. [6] O'Leary described the church as "remarkable for its dwarfish dimensions, its utter want of architectural grace, and its perfect seclusion from the public gaze". [5]

The Capuchin and temperance reformer Theobald Mathew arrived in Cork in 1814 and became an active social crusader, working to improve the conditions of the city's poor. [7] Father Mathew resolved to replace the cramped South Friary with a new church, and a committee was established to oversee the planning. A competition was held in 1825, and the plan by architect George Richard Pain — who also designed Blackrock Castle and the courthouse on Washington Street — was chosen. Pain, a former apprentice of the architect John Nash, was awarded the contract for £50. [8]

Construction

The city authorities offered a site on Sullivan's Quay, facing across the River Lee's south channel to the Grand Parade. For reasons that are uncertain, Mathew declined and opted for a site on Charlotte Quay, now Fr. Mathew Quay. This required the marshy ground on Morrison's Island to be drained and a foundation be built to bear the church's weight. The preparation of the site cost almost £1,600. [9] It was estimated that the church would cost £10,000 to build, half of which was raised by the citizens of Cork. The simultaneous construction of two other churches — St. Patrick's on the Lower Glanmire Road, by Pain and his brother James Pain, and the Dominican St. Mary's on Pope's Quay by Thomas and Kearns Deane — meant that the architects were competing for funds at a time when the city was stricken by a cholera outbreak. A further £4,500 was provided by Mathew himself. [10]

The foundation stone was laid on 10 October 1832, Mathew's birthday. [2] [8] A dispute over costs led to Mathew paying Pain a further £300. Pain died in 1838, and supervision of the construction was taken over by Thomas Coakley. The cost of the church had spiralled to £14,000 by 1840. With the builder, a Mr Anthony, unable to meet his costs, work stalled in 1841. [11] [3] Mathew refused the suggestions of many to use subscriptions from the temperance movement to fund his church. [12]

Following the Great Famine, a public meeting in Cork agreed to continue work on Holy Trinity. Thomas Deane, whose entry in the original competition had failed, was chosen to complete the church without its portico and spire. William Atkins was given responsibility for the church's interior. [13] The church finally opened on 10 October 1850. [6] A Pontifical High Mass was held, with admission by ticket, and celebrated by the bishops of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and Ossory. [14] Nevertheless, the interior was only completed ten years after Mathew's death, about 1866, [15] and the portico remained unfinished. The sculptor John Hogan produced two carved heads flanking the main door. [16]

Completion

Several suggestions were made in the following two decades to complete the façade of Holy Trinity. A proposal by George Ashlin was approved in 1877 which would have differed drastically from Pain's original plans, but this was not carried out. [17] Fr. Paul Neary, the Capuchin provincial superior in Ireland, organised celebrations for the centenary of Fr. Mathew's birth, and organised a public meeting to stimulate progress on the church. It was decided to complete the church to Pain's design. A campaign was organised to ensure the funds were in place for work to be completed. [18]

Another competition was held to select a façade, with the prize again £50; [19] among the requirements were that it should be made of limestone, like the existing structure, and cost no more than £6,000. [20] Of the twelve entries, Ashlin, now consultant architect to the Building Committee, described that by Walter G. Doolin as "the one most suitable for a façade to the building;" [19] submissions also came from Thomas Drew and Ashlin's own firm Pugin & Ashlin. [21] [22] The committee, however, selected a design by Dominic (or Dominick) J. Coakley. This design was praised for its closeness to that of Pain but at a smaller scale. [19] The limestone used in the façade came from the same quarry as the earlier work had used, in Little Island, which had deliberately lain unused until work recommenced. [23]

The construction work was taken over by Corkman John Sisk. [24] There was evidently some concern that the church would not be completed for Mathew's centenary, which Denny Lane said would be "a national disgrace." Nevertheless, work on Holy Trinity was completed in time and the church was reopened on 13 October 1890, marked with another ticketed Mass. [16]

Interior

The nave of Holy Trinity Nave of Holy Trinity Church, Cork.jpg
The nave of Holy Trinity

The north window, behind the high altar, is dedicated to Daniel O'Connell and was installed in 1850, three years after his death. [2] [25] Two other stained glass windows, likely by the same artist, depict the Virgin Mary and the coat of arms of Pope Leo XIII. [26]

A stained glass window in the east wall, commissioned by the Cork and District Trades and Labour Council and dedicated to Cork Capuchin brother Thomas Dowling, who had mediated an industrial dispute during World War I, [27] was produced by Joshua Clarke to a design by his son Harry Clarke and under his supervision. Among other figures, it features Christ as Prince of Peace and Saint Francis holding a dove, with the city's skyline at the bottom of the window. [3] [28] Two further windows were commissioned from Harry Clarke and his brother, Walter, depicting the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Conception being venerated by Munster saints. [29] Installation of these windows was overseen by the architect James Finbarre McMullen (or McMullan) and John Sisk between 1918 and 1929.

The interior was substantially altered in the early 1900s. A memorial chapel was added in 1908, dedicated to Fr. Bernard Jennings (died 1904), a Cork Capuchin social worker, at a cost of £3,500 and designed by Ashlin. This extension had the effect of unbalancing the interior, however, as there was no space for a mirroring chapel on the other side. [27] [30] [31] [2] [32] Further alterations were made to the interior about 1942 by McMullen. [33]

Extensive renovations were carried out in the 1980s at the instigation of church guardian Father Eustace McSweeney, who wished to bring the church's interior in line with the liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. Structural flaws and problems such as dry rot evidently riddled the building, to the extent that some suggested demolishing and rebuilding the church from scratch. [27] [34] At a cost of £500,000, the church was entirely renovated within a year in 1982. This involved, controversially, replacing the casings around the cast-iron columns with more slender wooden casings and removing the original pulpit, high altar and confessionals. [27] [35] The interior porch was extended in 2013 to encompass the area beneath the balcony. [36]

Friary

Together with the 1771 chapel, a Capuchin friary stood on Blackamoor Lane from the mid-18th century until the 1850s. [37] The congregation moved to George's Quay by 1855 and subsequently moved across the river to a site across the road from the new church. [6] [37]

A plan for a friary which would wrap around the church on three sides was put forward by John Pine Hurley, who "offered his professional services, without remuneration," and the foundation stone was laid during a ceremony on 23 September 1866. However, the building was evidently never completed. [38] [15] [39] The current friary, directly adjacent to the church on the west side and designed by Robert Walker in the Venetian Gothic style, was completed in 1884 [6] (although some sources say 1888). [40] [33] This three-storey structure, built out of limestone and red brick, was built in a matter of weeks and described by the Cork Examiner as "pleasing in the extreme ... the most perfect monastery in Ireland". [41] A statue of Saint Francis was placed over the entrance in 1934. [42]

Architecture

Holy Trinity was designed in a simple English Gothic Revival, or Regency Gothic, architectural style. [2] Pain was a strong proponent of this style over High Victorian Gothic, which was favoured by his rivals, the Deanes, although he also worked in Classical architecture. [43] He made extensive use of arched windows, flying buttresses and columns, culminating in a tapering "lacy Gothic spire, seemingly more air than stone." [3] At the time of its completion, the church was described by the Cork Examiner as "a worthy memorial of its renowned patron ... The whole design is exceedingly graceful." [24] Pain's plan would have brought the church to a height of 182 feet (55 m), but the building as realised only reaches 160 feet (49 m). [44] Cast-iron was used extensively to achieve the spaciousness of the church interior. Curtin-Kelly suggests this was because of the poor, marshy foundations, which would have prohibited heavier, stone columns. [45]

Social history

The Capuchin community in Cork acquired a premises on Queen Street, modern Fr Mathew Street, in 1907. This building, now known as Father Mathew Hall, was used to host theatrical performances, annual pantomimes and other productions from 1911 to the 1960s. It remains the venue for the annual Feis Maitiú begun by Capuchin Fr Micheál O'Shea in 1927. [46] [47] A fenced boundary wall was added to the front of the church about 1960. [2] From 1968, the Capuchin friars organised a "Clothing Guild" to distribute clothes and other items to the poor in Cork, distributing up to 5,000 sacks of clothing annually at its peak. Various other social efforts have been undertaken by the Capuchins in Cork, including the organisation of youth groups, sodalities and prayer groups. [27]

In 2013, the church hosted visiting relics of Franciscan saint Anthony of Padua. [48] In 2015, the Capuchin Order celebrated the four-hundredth anniversary of its arrival in Ireland. Patricia Curtin-Kelly's book An Ornament to the City, a survey of Holy Trinity's history, was published at this time with a foreword by the provincial superior. [49] [3]

The church features in the novel Beyond Absolution by Cora Harrison, [50] and was used as a filming location in an episode of The Young Offenders television series. [51]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Father Mathew</span> Irish Catholic priest and teetotalist reformer

Theobald Mathew was an Irish Catholic priest and teetotalist reformer, popularly known as Father Mathew. He was born at Thomastown, near Golden, County Tipperary, on 10 October 1790, to James Mathew and his wife Anne, daughter of George Whyte, of Cappaghwhyte. Of the family of the Earls Landaff, he was a kinsman of the clergyman Arnold Mathew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westport, County Mayo</span> Town in County Mayo, Ireland

Westport is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland. Westport is a tourist destination and scores highly for quality of life. It won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition three times in 2001, 2006 and 2008. In 2012 it won the Best Place to Live in Ireland competition run by The Irish Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glounthaune</span> Village by Cork Harbour, Ireland

Glounthaune is a village in County Cork, Ireland, some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of Cork city, on the north shore of Cork Harbour, the estuary of the River Lee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Ita's Hospital</span> Hospital in Dublin, Republic of Ireland

St. Ita's Hospital is a mental health facility in Portrane in the north of County Dublin in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timoleague Friary</span> Ruined Franciscan friary in Cork, Ireland

Timoleague Friary, also known as Timoleague Abbey, is a ruined medieval Franciscan friary in Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland, on the banks of the Argideen River overlooking Courtmacsherry Bay. It was built on the site of an early Christian monastic site founded by Saint Molaga, from whom the town of Timoleague derives its name. The present remains date from roughly the turn of the fourteenth century and were burnt down by British forces in the mid-seventeenth century, at which point it was an important ecclesiastical centre that engaged in significant trade with Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Father Mathew Bridge</span> Bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland

Father Mathew Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, which joins Merchants Quay to Church Street and the north quays. It occupies the approximate site of the original, and for many years the only, Bridge of Dublin, dating back to the 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Ashlin</span> Irish architect

George Coppinger Ashlin was an Irish architect, particularly noted for his work on churches and cathedrals, and who became President of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. W. Pugin</span> English architect

Edward Welby Pugin was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton and part of the Pugin & Pugin family of church architects. His father was an architect and designer of Neo-Gothic architecture, and after his death in 1852 Edward took up his practice. At the time of his own early death in 1875, Pugin had designed and completed more than one hundred Catholic churches.

Brosna is a village and parish situated in the Sliabh Luachra area of County Kerry, Ireland. It lies 16 km (9.9 mi) from the town of Castleisland. The civil parish of Brosna consists of the village and a number of townlands. It is a mainly agricultural area, supporting two churches, two schools, a post office, and five public houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Island, Cork</span> Civil parish near Cork city, Ireland

Little Island, County Cork, is a civil parish and mainly industrial area to the east of Cork city in Ireland. It is no longer an island since the northern channel separating it from the mainland has filled over. To the west and south is Lough Mahon, part of Cork Harbour; across a channel to the east is Fota Island. Little Island is within the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Goldie (architect)</span> English architect

George Goldie was an English ecclesiastical architect who specialised in Roman Catholic churches.

William Atkins (c.1811–1887) was an Irish architect of the Victorian era. He was born in County Cork, and was reputedly apprenticed to architect George Richard Pain.

The Flint Deanery is a Roman Catholic deanery in the Diocese of Wrexham that covers several churches in Flintshire, Wales.

George Richard Pain was born into a family of English architects. His grandfather was William Pain, his father James Pain and his brother also James. George Richard served as an apprentice architect to John Nash of London. George Richard and James were commissioned by the Board of First Fruits to design churches and glebe houses in Ireland. He settled in Cork, Ireland. Many of his designs were produced in collaboration with his brother James Pain who practiced in Limerick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cork International Exhibition</span>

The International Exhibition was a world's fair held in Cork, Ireland, in 1902, 50 years after the first world's fair held in Ireland, which also took place in Cork. At the time of the exhibition, Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Francis College Rochestown</span> Secondary school

St. Francis College Rochestown, sometimes known as Rochestown College or abbreviated as Roco, is an all-boys secondary school in Rochestown, Cork, Ireland. The school's foundation dates to 1884 when a friary was formed by the Franciscan Order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Edwin Jones</span> Irish architect (1894–1973)

Alfred Edwin Jones (1894–1973) was an Irish architect. His collection of files about Irish architects formed the basis of the Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720–1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Hall, Cork</span> Municipal building in Cork city, Ireland

The City Hall, Cork is a civic building in Cork, Ireland which houses the administrative headquarters of Cork City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Michan's Catholic Church, Dublin</span> Church in Dublin, Ireland

St. Michan's Catholic Church is a Catholic Church located on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the parish church for the Halston Street Parish in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Saviour's Priory, Dublin</span> Irish church

St. Saviour's Priory, Dublin, is a convent of the Dominican Order, in Dublin, founded in 1224. Its present church has, since 1974, also served as a parish church for the local area, The priory has also been, since 2000, the House of Formation of the Irish Dominican Province, hosting the so-called Studium generale of the province.

References

  1. Curtin-Kelly, Patricia (2015). An Ornament to the City: Holy Trinity Church & the Capuchin Order. Dublin, Ireland: The History Press Ireland. pp. 9, 37. ISBN   978 1 84588 861 9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Holy Trinity Church, Father Matthew Quay, Cork City, Cork City". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage . Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Spalding, Tom (18 April 2015). "Holy Trinity Church, an ornament to Cork City". Irish Examiner . Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  4. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 16, 18.
  5. 1 2 Curtin-Kelly, p. 20.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Blackamoor Lane Friary". Cork Past and Present. Cork City Council. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  7. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 23–24.
  8. 1 2 Curtin-Kelly, p. 37.
  9. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 39–40.
  10. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 31, 44.
  11. Curtin-Kelly, p. 44.
  12. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 26–27.
  13. Curtin-Kelly, p. 45.
  14. Curtin-Kelly, p. 46.
  15. 1 2 Herlihy, Roger (2010). A Walk through the South Parish. Cork: Red Abbey Publications. pp. 57–58.
  16. 1 2 Curtin-Kelly, p. 56.
  17. Curtin-Kelly, p. 48.
  18. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 50–51.
  19. 1 2 3 "1889 – Design for Holy Trinity Church, Cork". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  20. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 51–52.
  21. "1890 – Competitive Design for Holy Trinity, Cork". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  22. "1890 – Unbuilt Design for Holy Trinity, Cork". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  23. Curtin-Kelly, p. 52.
  24. 1 2 "The Father Mathew Memorial Church". Cork Examiner . 29 August 1891. p. 2. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  25. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 70–71.
  26. Curtin-Kelly, p. 73.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 "History". holytrinity.irishcapuchins.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  28. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 77–82.
  29. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 85–86.
  30. "Proposed Memorial to the late Very Rev. Father Bernard, O.S.F.C." Cork Examiner . 14 October 1905. p. 3. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  31. "Holy Trinity Church: Father Bernard Memorial: Dedication of the Sanctuary Extension: imposing Ceremony". Cork Examiner . 20 April 1908. p. 5. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  32. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 96–97.
  33. 1 2 "DIA entry – Holy Trinity Capuchin Friary". Dictionary of Irish Architects, 1720–1940. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  34. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 98–99.
  35. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 63–65, 98-99.
  36. Curtin-Kelly, p. 109
  37. 1 2 "Fr Mathew Memorial Church and Friary". Cork Past and Present. Cork City Council. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  38. "Convent for the Capuchin Order in Cork". Cork Examiner . 24 September 1866. p. 2. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  39. Curtin-Kelly, p. 66.
  40. "1888 – Capuchin Convent, Charlotte Quay, Cork". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  41. "The new Capuchin Convent, Cork". Cork Examiner . 10 June 1884. p. 2. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  42. Curtin-Kelly, p. 69.
  43. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 38–39, 61.
  44. Curtin-Kelly, p. 60.
  45. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 63–65.
  46. "About Feis Maitiú". feismaitiu.ie. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  47. "Fr Mathew Hall 'Mathew Choral and Dramatic Society' Photographs (1920s), and additional material: IE CCCA/SM779: Descriptive List" (PDF). Cork City and County Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  48. "Hundreds queue outside Holy Trinity Church in Cork to venerate relics of St Anthony". RTÉ . 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  49. Curtin-Kelly, pp. 4–5.
  50. "Review: Beyond Absolution by Cora Harrison". Criminal Element. 31 July 2017.
  51. "7. Cork Locations, The Young Offenders TV Show, 2018 | Cork Heritage". corkheritage.ie.