Religion

MARIAN GROTTO IN BLACKROCK VILLAGE

August 2, 2023 by infomatique

CORK AUGUST 2021

Back in 2007 it was suggested that this grotto at Pier Head on the Marina should be relocated to the new Blackrock park to allow improved vehicular access to the slipways. When I visited in September 2018 and August 2021 it was still at its original location … I wonder what happened.

Note: Pier Head may actually refer to a Pub or a restaurant rather than the actual location of the grotto.

A short distance from the village is Blackrock Castle. There has been a castle on the site since medieval times but the present castle was built in the mid-19th century in mock-baronial style. It now houses an observatory and planetarium.

The Marina, a tree-lined avenue (not strictly a marina) runs along the southern bank of the River Lee from Blackrock Village past Páirc Uí Chaoimh and is a used for a number of recreational activities such as rowing, walking and cycling. The Atlantic Pond, in the shadow of Páirc Uí Chaoimh, is also used by walkers and is populated by wildlife, mainly ducks and swans.

Dundanion Castle, overlooking the Marina but difficult to access, is a ruined 16th-century castle. It is from this spot that William Penn reputedly sailed on his first voyage to America in 1682 before founding the state of Pennsylvania.

CHRIST THE KING CHURCH AT TURNER’S CROSS IN CORK CITY

July 31, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED AUGUST 2021

Christ The King Church is a Catholic church in the Turners Cross area of Cork City, Ireland. It was designed by the American architect Barry Byrne and built between 1929 and 1931. The church is a fine example of 20th-century ecclesiastical architecture, and is considered to be one of Byrne’s most important works.

The church is built in a simplified Hiberno-Romanesque style, with a long nave and a short transept. The exterior is made of limestone, and the interior is decorated with marble and mosaics. The most striking feature of the church is the large statue of Christ the King, which stands at the entrance. The statue was designed by the American sculptor John Storrs.

John Henry Bradley Storrs (June 25, 1885 – April 26, 1956), also known as John Bradley Storrs and John H. Storrs, was an American modernist sculptor best remembered for his art deco sculptures that examined the relationship between architecture and sculpture

Storrs was born in Chicago in 1885, son of architect D.W. Storrs. In 1905, he traveled to Berlin to study singing, but he soon decided to become a sculptor. He studied with Lorado Taft at the Art Institute of Chicago, with Bela Pratt at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and with Charles Grafly at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. By 1911, he was living in Paris, where he studied with Auguste Rodin and also attended the Académie Julian. He gradually moved from representational sculpture and wood engravings to the machine-like sculptures for which he is best known.

During his time in France, Storrs became friends with Jacques Lipchitz. In 1914, Storrs married the novelist and writer Marguerite Deville Chabrol and started dividing his time between France and the United States. In the 1930s, Storrs turned to abstract painting that often suggested the human figure. During World War II Storrs was twice arrested and imprisoned by the German occupation forces. After being released, he returned to his studio in Mer, France, and worked and lived there until his death in 1956.

Some of the images are distorted because I used a wide angle lens. This was, more or less, my first real opportunity to us my Sony A7RIV which I purchased in September 2019.

When I visited Cork in August 2021 my activities were very much constrained because of Covid-19. Also, the hotel where I stayed had been block booked by the Government in order to house nursing staff. I was one of the first commercial guests and full service had yet to be restored. The weather was not at all good and I could not depend on the bus service so I walked everywhere and ended up Turner’s Cross more by accident than by design. When I arrived at The Christ The King church I was exhausted and did not explore the building as much as I would have liked to. I decided to return to the hotel with the intention of returning to Turner’s Cross later in the week but bad weather prevented my return.

SAINT FIN BARRE’S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY

June 15, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED MAY 2011 AND REPROCESSED 15 JUNE 202

The church grounds are south of the River Lee on Holy Island, on one of the many inlets forming the Great Marsh of Munster. Saint Fin Barre’s is on the site of at least two previous church buildings, each dedicated to Fin Barre of Cork, patron saint of Cork city and founder of the monastic hermitage at Gougane Barra.

Finbarr was born in about 550. He was, by legend, given Gougane Barra as a place of contemplation, and visited Cork city to lay the foundation stones for the “one true Christian faith”. According to tradition, after Finbarr died his remains were brought to Cork to be enclosed in a shrine near the site of today’s cathedral.

Archaeological evidence suggests the first site at Fin Barre’s probably dates from the 7th century, and consisted of a church and round tower that survived until the 12th century, after which it fell into neglect, or was destroyed during the Norman invasions.

These images date from May 2011 and I used a Sony VG10E with a Sony E 18-200mm lens. The NEX-VG10 is a camcorder and while I like it (and still use it today in 2023) it does not offer RAW as an option which is a great pity.

I had planned to photograph the interior of the church but when I arrived I discovered that there was no public assess (because of repair work) and despite visiting the area at least once every year I never did get to photograph the interior.

I already visited Cork in May 2023 and as a backup had booked a hotel for four nights in August. I asked if I could change my August booking [which cost Euro 434] to May 2024 and was informed that it would cost an additional Euro 500 so I will not be visiting Cork in 2024. I have already failed to secure affordable accommodation in Belfast, Limerick, Waterford or Galway for 2023 or 2024 which is disappointing.

SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY
SAINT FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL IN CORK CITY

EXAMPLES OF THE CELTIC CROSS

May 17, 2023 by infomatique

ST. FINBARR’S CEMETERY IN CORK CITY

The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses erected across the islands, especially in regions evangelised by Irish missionaries, from the ninth through the 12th centuries.

A staple of Insular art, the Celtic cross is essentially a Latin cross with a nimbus surrounding the intersection of the arms and stem. Scholars have debated its exact origins, but it is related to earlier crosses featuring rings. The form gained new popularity during the Celtic Revival of the 19th century; the name “Celtic cross” is a convention dating from that time. The shape, usually decorated with interlace and other motifs from Insular art, became popular for funerary monuments and other uses, and has remained so, spreading well beyond Ireland.

The Celtic Revival of the mid-19th century led to an increased use and creation of Celtic crosses in Ireland. In 1853, casts of several historical high crosses were exhibited at the Dublin Industrial Exhibition. In 1857, Henry O’Neill published Illustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland. These two events stimulated interest in the Celtic cross as a symbol for a renewed sense of heritage within Ireland.

New versions of the high cross were designed for fashionable cemetery monuments in Victorian Dublin in the 1860s. From Dublin, the revival spread to the rest of the country and beyond. Since the Celtic Revival, the ringed cross became an emblem of Celtic identity, in addition to its more traditional religious symbolism.

Modern interest in the symbol increased because of Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie. The two worked on the island of Iona in Scotland from 1899 to 1940 and popularised use of the Celtic cross in jewelry. Using the Celtic cross in fashion is still popular today.

Since its revival in the 1850s, the Celtic cross has been used extensively as grave markers. Straying from medieval usage, when the symbol was typically used for a public monument. The Celtic cross now appears in various retail items. Both the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland national football team have used versions of the Celtic cross in their logos and advertising. The Church in Wales since 1954 have used a flag with a Celtic cross in the centre.

A BROKEN COLUMN REPRESENTS A LIFE CUT SHORT

May 16, 2023 by infomatique

ST LUKE’S CHURCH OF IRELAND GRAVEYARD IN DOUGLAS COUNTY CORK

Broken columns signify lives cut short or those who died young or in the prime of their life. Often these symbols have been used when the living died suddenly (for example in a road accident). The columns range from classical to modern designs however I have noticed that are more common in Church Of Ireland graveyards than in Irish Catholic graveyards.

This graveyard is an important part of the history of Cork city, with many well-known Cork figures buried here. Next to the spire is a monument to John Arnott, (1814-98) who founded Arnotts in Dublin. Businessman, philanthropist and former Lord Mayor of Cork (1859-61), he worked throughout his life to develop the industry and resources of Ireland. In the last 30 years of his life, he gave an average of £1,500 per year to public charity.