Church

ST AUDOEN’S CHURCH AND ADJACENT PUBLIC PARK

February 13, 2023 by infomatique

CORNMARKET DUBLIN

It appears that there are at least two different spellings: St. Audeon and St. Audoen. Anyway, St Ouen (or Audoen) of Rouen (Normandy) lived in the seventh century.

St. Audeon’s Park sits alongside St. Audoen’s Church at Cornmarket in Dublin city centre. The park features Dublin’s original stone walls and the last surviving entrance to the old city (St. Audoen’s Gate).

Before the renovation, the park was not well used and was regularly closed to the public. A consultation process was carried out to determine community perception and factors that had caused the park to fail as a public space. Antisocial behaviour was the main factor which had resulted in the local school feeling that the park was unsafe for children to use.

The objective of this renovation was to give the park back to the city and community, increasing its use and revealing its presence right in the heart of the old city. Simple day-to-day concerns were addressed by design such as the removal of overshadowing vegetation locally to improve sight lines and a very generous provision of new seating. This addressed a common concern arising from consultation around the use and comfort of the park as a destination and place within which to dwell for longer periods.

By reinvigorating the park through design and breaking down obstacles to accessibility, St. Audoens Church has gained a renewed presence in the park. This has substantially increased visitor numbers which in turn renders the park safer. It also provides a beautiful setting for church ceremonies, with the park now used for wedding celebrations. The park facilitates a good balance of tourist and local visitors.

St Audoen’s Church is the church of the parish of Saint Audoen in the Church of Ireland, located south of the River Liffey at Cornmarket in Dublin, Ireland. This was close to the centre of the medieval city. The parish is in the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. St Audoen’s is the oldest parish church in Dublin and is still used as such. There is a Roman Catholic church of the same name adjacent to it.

A CHURCH THAT LOOKS LIKE A LARGE HOUSE

January 30, 2023 by infomatique

CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION BOOTERSTOWN

The high cross outside Booterstown church was erected c.1868 from a sum of money left to the church by a servant lady from the Pembroke estate. I do not know why her name is not mentioned in any accounts that I have seen.

Church of the Assumption, Booterstown is a Roman Catholic church located in Booterstown, County Dublin, Ireland. The church represents the Parish of the Assumption Booterstown, which was established in 1616. The present church opened in 1813 and was built as a replacement for the old chapel that existed at the site. The construction was paid for by Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam who provided it for his Catholic tenants.

The Booterstown parish was established in 1616 and its boundary was from Irishtown, through Donnybrook, Milltown, Churchtown, Rathfarnham to the top of Three Rock Mountain through Sandyford to Seapoint taking in Dundrum, Stillorgan and Galloping Green. Other parishes were formed directly or indirectly from the Booterstown parish such as Donnybrook in 1747, Dundrum in 1879, Blackrock in 1922, Mount Merrion in 1948, Merrion Road in 1964 and Newtownpark in 1967.

Construction of the present parish church started on 6 August 1812 with the laying of the foundation stone. The church was constructed at the expense of the Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam. He instructed the architect to make the church look like a house and avoid making it look like a church. This was to avoid upsetting his local Protestant tenants and friends. The church was dedicated to the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August 1813, by Dr. John Troy, Archbishop of Dublin.

STATUE ON THE GROUNDS OF THE FRIARY AS SEEN FROM BOW STREET

January 28, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH RAILINGS

This statue is at the rear Saint Mary of the Angels Church which is a operated by the Capuchin Friars. If you zoom in you will notice that it is in poor condition.

The name “St. Mary of the Angels” goes back to a little chapel on the outskirts of Assisi called Santa Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels) rebuilt by St. Francis. According to local accounts, the church dates back to 364 when Pope Liberius erected this chapel for the Hermits of Josephat. In 516 the Benedictines took possession of the chapel but by the time of St. Francis it was in severe disrepair.

The Capuchin Friars first arrived in Dublin in 1615, but it was not until 1624 that the first friary was established, in Bridge Street. They came to Church Street in 1690, shortly after the Battle of the Boyne and opened a “Mass house” at the site of the present Church. The Mass house was enlarged in 1796. The present Church dates from 1881. The architect was James J.McCarthy. The altar and reredos was designed by James Pearse, the father of Pádraig and Willie Pearse who were executed after the 1916 Rising. It was friars from the Church Street community that attended those executed in 1916 and administered the last rites.

Today the friars serve the local community through parish work and through the Capuchin Day Centre. The Capuchin Mission Office which supports the work of the Irish friars overseas, in Zambia, South Africa, New Zealand and Korea is also located in Church Street. St Mary of the Angels is not a parish church, however, the Friars also have responsibility for Halston Street Parish, one of the oldest in Dublin City Centre.

The friary buildings are associated with neighbouring Saint Mary of the Angels Church to the south designed by J. J. McCarthy. Built by the Capuchin Order, the southern building to Bow Street is now in use as private offices however it retains shared access to the west of the church and maintains much of its early character including sash windows and decorative chimneystack. The single-storey limestone wall to Bow Street, gives the appearance of a boundary wall, displays skilled stonemasonry and, without windows, maintains privacy for the users within. The recent additions to the site, designed by James Ahern Architects, include an oratory, its cylindrical form and lantern adding interest to the varied streetscape of Church Street.

THE CATHEDRAL OF ST PETER AND PAUL IN NEWTOWN TRIM

January 1, 2023 by infomatique

NEWTOWN ABBEY AND NEARBY CHRISTMAS DAY 2022

VISIT TRIM COUNTY MEATH

I last photographed the area in detail about eight years ago. Today I used a Sony FX30 camera and used an iPhone 12 Pro Max as a backup which I actually needed as my Sony battery failed.

There are so many historic sites in or near Trim that it is almost impossible to uniquely identify them.

Newtown Abbey is located about 1.2 km (¾ mile) east of Trim town centre, on the north bank of the Boyne. The main building is the Church of St Peter and St Paul (sometimes called a cathedral). The abbey church features lancet windows, with Norman-style sedilia to the right of the altar, and a double piscina for washing communion vessels.

A smaller church in the east of the monastery is the parish church of Newtown Clonbun. This is the burial site of Lucas Dillon (1530 – 1592), Attorney General for Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and his first wife Jane Bathe. Their tomb effigies are separated by a sword of state, and so they gained the local nickname of the “jealous man and woman”.

NEWTOWN ABBEY AND NEARBY CHRISTMAS DAY 2022 001

NEWTOWN ABBEY AND NEARBY CHRISTMAS DAY 2022 002

CHRIST CRUCIFIED

November 25, 2022 by infomatique

MOUNT ARGUS CHURCH IN DUBLIN

Constituted 1974. The Church and Monastery of Mount Argus have been home of the Passionist Congregation since 1856. The Church houses the shrine of Saint Charles of Mount Argus who lived here from 1857 until his death in 1893. His feast day is celebrated on the 5th January.