apelles

Well Paul, apart from all the extremely long pages of crappy spam, some of which has been up there for about six months now, which you can’t seem to be bothered to delete & that most of the main contributors posts are showing up as being by ‘Anonymous’ instead of it showing their actual user names & that many years of private messaging with important contact information has been lost & deleted & that we can’t PM anyone, anymore, anyway & that no one posts here because you’ve obviously lost all interest in keeping the forum going, then no, apart from them few minor discrepancies I haven’t noticed any other specific problems.

@gunter wrote:

Unless it is the box.

All that hassle for a box, surely not, I tell you now, if that box is the new altar then I’m a monkey’s oooh ooooh aaaah aaaah!

@Praxiteles wrote:

Perhaps the Iglesia Nuestra Segnora de la Peña de Francia in Porto de la Cruz in Tenerife ?

If so, this is the Retablo de la Inmaculada Concepción, late XVII century, dominated by the arms of the kingdom of Ireland (just visible behind the chain of the sanctuary lamp), and the gift of the Walsh family to the parish. The attic has a picture of the Cristo de La Laguna. The upper register, has a descent from the Cross flanked by the apparition of Our lady and the Christ Child to Santa Rosalia of Palermo and a Assumption of Our Lady. The niches in the lower register have statues of Santa Rita of Cascia, a Madonna and St. Patrick. The altar mensa is a a late 19th century reproduction of the original.

It may be currently run by the Augustinians.

Now I have to say thats impressive Praxiteles, I had started off looking for that in Spain alright but soon gave up when I was finding that there are lots of similar Spanish made Reredos dedicated to St. Patrick that been exported to places as far flung as Mekico & other ex-Spanish colonies . . I’d love to be as cognizant on these topics.

Might any of you be able to throw some light on identifying the architect of this one, its the Nativity Roman Catholic Church in Kilcormac, County Offaly

More images here http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=images&county=OF&regno=14815012
Description
Detached Roman Catholic church, built c.1880, with six-bay nave, lean-to side aisles, chancel to west and sacristy to south-west. Built on the site of a former chapel. Pitched slate roofs with limestone coping, carved stone cross finials, limestone chimneystack and cast-iron rainwater goods. Terracotta ridge cresting to sacristy and chancel. Cut stone bellcote to east gable. Snecked limestone walls with dressed stone quoins. Pointed-arched window openings with block-and-start surrounds and stained glass to nave. Rose window to east elevation. Traceried stained glass windows to chancel and western aisle. Shoulder-arched openings to sacristy. Pointed-arched door openings with limestone block-and-start surrounds, hoodmouldings with floral stops and double timber battened doors. Timber roof trusses to interior. Grave markers to yard. Stone grotto in corner of yard near pointed-arched gateway with cast-iron gate to convent. Cross from Cistercian monastery in boundary wall. Churchyard bounded by random coursed wall with ruled-and-lined wall to eastern end with piers and cast-iron gates. Swivel cast-iron pedestrian gate.

Appraisal
This Roman Catholic church is of both architectural and artistic merit. The finely executed stonework, including the stone dressings, bellcote and finials attest to excellent craftsmanship at the time of construction. Features such as the stained glass windows and also some of the decorative stonework add artistic interest to the site. The grave markers, stone grotto and wall mounted cross enhance the setting, which is completed by the boundary walls and gate piers. Together with the neighbouring convent, the Nativity Church forms part of a group of ecclesiastical structures at the centre of Kilcormac.

[attachment=0:36gvc25z]old interior painting 1879.jpg[/attachment:36gvc25z]

The first image above is a bit of a rarity I think, its an oil painting of the interior from 1879 which hangs in the sacristy, painted from before the apse was added in 1907.

St Rynagh’s in Banagher http://strynaghschurch.ie/ has reopened after a little friendly dialogue with the Offaly planners about relocating the rose window from an abandoned convent chapel down the road to its new home in the church sanctuary wall.

The salvaged window

How the old Ray Carroll sanctuary looked prior the works

The sanctuary now with rose window incorporated

Note the now nearly obligatory use of red carpet Praxiteles, speaking of which, do you happen to recognize where this Eamon Hedderman interior is located http://www.hollyparkstudio.ie/Liturgical.html.

And is it just me :crazy: or is there way too heavy an emphasis on the neo Gothic reredos in what is obviously a Romanesque church interior?

THE WONDERS OF IRISH STAINED GLASS

Monday 14 February 2011

There is an old expression “he didn’t lick it off the ground” and that certainly applies to stained glass artist Evan Connon. Indeed, the talent for stained glass skipped a generation in his case from his Grandfather to himself, but still came through, for it was truly in the genes. We have had some wonderful stained glass artists in Ireland including Harry Clarke, whom many will know from his glorious stained glass windows in Bewley’s Café, to Evie Hone who, in turn, was related to Nathaniel Hone, the 18th C portrait and miniature painter, and Nathaniel Hone the Younger, his great grand nephew in the 19th C. Evie Hone’s most important works are probably the East Window for the chapel at Eton College but of course there are fine examples around Ireland including at Cathal Brugha Barracks.

Evan Connon’s grandfather, who died quite young, had worked for Harry Clarke but his son didnt follow in his shows. The interest skipped a generation until it came to Evan who was always drawing as a child. When he was 15 years old his father suggested that he give it a shot and he was brought down to the Earley Studios in Dundrum where he met William Earley of Earley & Company who were one of the largest and most prestigious ecclesiastical decorators in Ireland and the U.K. They had operated out of offices and workshops in Dublin’s Camden Street from 1852 to 1974. After that William Earley had a studio in Dundrum. The archive, of Earley & Company, consisting of 337 design drawings and 30 bound volumes of supporting documentation, was donated by the Earley family to the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) at the National College of Art and Design between. A project to index and digitise the drawings was completed in 2004 and this material made available to the public on the NIVAL website.

It was explained to Evan that this wasn’t a question of coming in for a year or two and being trained and then taking off. He would have to be prepared to train properly in the old traditional way, as an apprentice to the trade, which would take eight years and like any student going to college, apprentices were not paid. He decided that this was what he wanted to pursue and was taken on by the Earley Studios. He signed up to the old style apprenticeship from 16 years of age with four years drawing and four years learning the rest. Every day he would return from school to the studio and draw for four or five hours. Mr. Earley would look at his work and encourage him saying, “you’re improving, you’re improving, one day it will just come to you.” After the four years, he progressed to the next stage, which was two years painting on traditional stained glass. “In stained glass you have to be able to extend the drawing because the windows are larger at the top, they may be 40 ft tall, and you have to be able to show the depicted scene at the top, and that is what Willie Earley was teaching me as an ecclesiastical cartoonist.”

Looking around at the beautiful drawings in the studio, Connon explained “they have the unique Irish ecclesiastical style of my training, the influence of Harry Clarke and of the Earley Studios.” When the Earley Studios closed in Dundrum, Connon set up his own studios. “I started knocking on priests’ doors. They of course weren’t going to let me pull out a €40,000 window to restore it just because I said I could do it, but I started getting small jobs around the country, things like door panels in churches and so on. A priest in Croghan in Co. Roscommon gave me my first opportunity. I was on the dole with eighty pounds a week but I literally had a Fiat Uno and I flew around the country. My sister lived in Cork, I had friends in Kerry, and I would turn up on their doorstep knowing they would put me up for the night. I met Monsignor Dan O’Riordan in Kerry and it was he who gave me a big break in St. John the Baptist Church, Tralee, by allowing me to restore the church window and then do my first window which is of St. Brendan.” From there it got really really busy and at the age of 26 in 2006 Connon started approaching architects. “I met Paul Arnold, of Paul Arnold Architects, in Portobello and he asked me to restore a window at the Star of the Sea Church in Sandymount.” Paul Arnold then asked him would he be interested in restoring in Christ Church Cathedral and this, of course, was the golden jewel of restoration, defined as the finest stained glass windows in Ireland. They are pre 19th C and at the age of 26, to be allowed do this was a very big honour. Connon says, “the problem with stained glass restoration and conservation in Ireland was that there was no one trained to do stained glass painting. There were people who would do door panels and so on, but a lot of them were not doing good restoration. The fact of the matter is that if you can’t draw it, you can’t paint it. It’s a bit like a bar code, if you keep all the lines straight, its readable, but if you don’t, they bend off and it becomes a mess. We explained to people what we were going to do with conservation, it hadn’t been done before, and from then on we started restoring some of the biggest churches in Ireland, from Castlebar church, which has the biggest window in Connaught to Valentia Island, to all the Ring of Kerry.” Taking out the windows completely they would bring them back to Dublin to the studios where, having made a rubbing of the window, they would dismantle them completely. The process involves washing them in cold water with no acid or anything like that. “Previously people were cleaning them with wire wool and damaging the glass because the paints of years ago were very delicate, the kilns weren’t hot enough then to bake it in.” Then they went to Lixnaw, outside Tralee, and “that was my first opportunity to really blossom as an artist, designing a big rose window.” The next project was at Monavea in Galway where he designed a window of the Guardian Angel minding the children.

“We were going on then with more designing for churches in Ireland but then the slow down came.” Still only 33 years old, Connon says he talked to his old mentor Willie Earley. “He advised keep costs as low as possible and keep the studio going so I decided then it would be a good idea to join forces with another studio. “I knew of Enda Hannon, Stained Glass, who had a fantastic premises on one of the best streets in Dublin, Francis Street, so I thought if we had the two studios in one we would have all areas of the business covered.”

Enda Hannon is 44 years old and is originally from Whitehall in Dublin. Hannon has been in Francis Street for ten years with a striking stained glass window shopfront where he has been working with Ron O’Connor who takes care of all of the business end. Hannon got into the stained glass area in a roundabout way. He was originally working with a sign company and this involved doing work in a lot of pubs. With the pub work they also covered a lot of lead light windows and it was from there that he got the start in it. “When I started working for myself I bought the kiln and learned a lot from various stained glass artists over the years, including Evan also, and we did some work together. “That was the secret of the old studios, in the likes of the Clarke studios, there were great glass painters, cartoonists and craftsmen. You might want to be the best stained glass studios but you have to bring people together, have the right people around you. You might have the biggest studio but you mightn’t have the best people in it. You have to realize that you can’t do everything and that was the key that I learned in this recession. It is difficult when you are an artist, you get so caught up in running the business.” Says Connon.

“We realised we could do more together by putting the two studios side by side. By doing that we each have our strengths and can produce even better stained glass. That’s what we are hoping to achieve here. With the traditional training that I have, and with the training that Enda has in stained glass, we believe it will be one of the finest stained glass studios in Ireland.” They are currently working on University Church on St. Stephen’s Green where the windows are 140 years old.

People are beginning again to really appreciate the artistry and skill of stained glass so go into your church and look at the windows……..we have so many wonderful ones all over the country.

So, here’s to Messrs Connon and Hannon who between them create so much light and beauty for us to behold.

Evan Connon Studio & Enda Hannon Studio

53 Francis Street,

Dublin. 8.

Tel: (01) 473-3044

http://www.lucindaosullivan.com/index.cfm/page/newsarchive/id/319

What are the typical features of a Roman Catholic Church?
As described (with a slight tone of disdain) on answers.com http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_typical_features_of_a_Roman_Catholic_Church

Answer:
This was once a very simple question to answer, however, since Vatican II, a wave of novelty has rippled through the Church affecting everything, even ecclesiastical architecture. This is no surprise since the architecture of a Church is a reflection of the faith and so when novelties enter the faith, they are reflected in art, music and architecture.

Some features that remain in all Roman Catholic churches:

A Sanctuary
The sanctuary is typically at the center or front of a church. It is distinguished by an altar, usually on an elevation to the rest of the church, though some modern designs wish the people to be on the same level or even slightly above the altar, via a sloping floor. The theological implications of this reversal are on purpose.

A Choir Loft or Accommodation
Typically, especially in pre-Vatican II churches, there is a choir loft or reserved pew section for a choir or schola or organist at the back of the church. A schola was an all male choir that sung the Gregorian chant propers and common of the Mass and sometimes would be in cassock and surplice and stand in the center aisle of the church. Organs were typically in the loft and attended by an organist; the massive organ pipes are often visibly running up the walls. In modern churches, where emphasis is put on participation in liturgical singing and responses, the choir is usually situated at the front, beside the sanctuary, so that the congregation can see them and even watch them play their instruments which now include most anything from guitar to drums, tamberines to flutes, etc. Such instruments were once forbidden in churches.

A Vestibule
Upon first entering a church, there is a lobby section that might have a bookstore, coat room, statues, etc. This is called a vestibule. In older churches, there is an ambiance of the sacred to help elevate the mind before entering the church proper. This is accomplished by a vaulting ceiling, usually with a broad painting on it or featuring a coffered ceiling. Often there is rich and elaborate decoration; there are devotional statues and candles, paintings, stained glass, stalls for holy cards and books and perhaps even a bookstore. Modern churches resemble more of a reception hall atmosphere and have very sparse decor. Sometimes, if the church is very small or poorly designed, there may be a baptismal font in the vestibule. Although no longer stipulated in the modern rite of baptism, baptisms used to begin outside of the church, in a baptistry or vestibule since the child symbolically was not yet ready to enter the church until undergoing pre-baptismal rites that included an exorcism and anointing with holy oils. The priest would then place his stole upon the child, symbolizing the cross, and then all would enter the church to complete the baptism.

A Sacristy
A sacristy contains all the implements, books and vestments for liturgical ceremonies, a sort of antechamber where priests prepare for Mass. Typically there is a tabernacle and an altar in the sacristy against one wall, usually the one that is opposite to the church sanctuary. There are shallow drawers and cabinets for vestments and holy vessels. Supplies such as hosts, candles, incense, etc., are all stored in the sacristy as well. There is a sink called a sacrarium which is used to wash the priests hands and any blessed water; the pipe to this sink goes directly into the earth as is prescribed for the disposing of holy things. Holy oils and other sacred vessels are stored in the sacristy either in the tabernacle there or in a separate vault.

A Cross
A Catholic church must have a cross on it, usually in a prominent place such as atop a steeple or bell tower. The cross is made out of stone or wood.

The Stations of the Cross
Inside a typical church along the walls are the fourteen (fifteen in modern churches) Stations of the Cross, a penitential devotion that invites the faithful to meditate upon the last hours of Christ from His trial to His burial (or resurrection, if allowing for the 15th station that has been added). These are usually carved from wood or painted though they are represented in a variety of mediums. If entering a church from the vestibule, the Stations begin at the front on the left side of the sanctuary and run along the wall to the back and then skip across the aisle and resume along the right wall back to the sanctuary. Usually each wall has seven stations.

Stained Glass
A staple of Catholic architecture, windows are specifically designed to accommodate large panes of stained glass that usually depict a saint or holy event. The rose window, so common to cathedrals and basilicas is a massive circular disc in the back of the church above the vestibule and loft. Smaller churches may just have an intricate stained glass window in this place since rose windows are rare and expensive. Modern stained glass is usually a mishmash of color and formless shapes, which is frankly rather pitiful when compared to the quality, art and color of stained glass of pre-Vatican II times. The glass was meant to show forth the saints through light, a metaphor for Christ illuminating them and their virtues and example and thus the affect was to raise the mind to God, whereas modern stained glass with its abstract shattered shapes just distorts and tints light.

A Pulpit
If entering from the vestibule, a pulpit can usually be seen at the front of the church, left of the sanctuary. It is from here that the priest gives his sermon. In older churches, the pulpit is often of wood or stone with elaborate carvings or statues around it. The pulpit has a short flight of stairs so that the priest is on an elevated level to the congregation to better allow his voice to project. To further aid his voice there may be a wooden disc or board suspended above him or even projecting out of the pulpit itself over him – this is a sounding board which helps bounce sound back towards the congregation. Many modern churches do not bother constructing a pulpit and instead usually have a lectern – a wooden reading stand – or just a microphone stand. Some priests prefer to preach solely via the microphone clipped to their vestments, thus allowing them to walk down the aisles, among the congregation, as they preach.

Things that are traditionally part of church architecture but have been repressed since Vatican II (Note, in any church built before Vatican II, these things can still be seen if the diocesan bishop or parish pastor has not deliberately had them removed or destroyed):

A Communion Rail
Typically made from the same material as the altar or church itself – meaning marble, stone or wood – a Communion rail was built into the floor and was the demarcation between the sanctuary and the congregation. Communion rails are no longer used for two reasons: Communicants used to kneel to receive Holy Communion and so leaned on the railing. Communion is now often received standing, except in the most traditional parishes, and so the railing is redundant. Secondly, Vatican II wished the faithful to participate more in the liturgy and modern theology wishes to emphasize the priesthood of the people. To this effect, the demarcation between the priest and the people, sanctuary and congregation, was removed.

The Reredos
Altars used to be against the front wall of the church sanctuary – save in cathedrals and other massive churches where the altar was centered – as the priest celebrated Mass facing the tabernacle with his back to the people. The reredos was the elaborate front piece that surrounded the tabernacle and spread the length and breadth of the wall. Reredos were usually made out of the same material as the altar and had columns and pillars with platforms for statues. Altars have since been moved out from the wall and the tabernacles taken off them since the priest now celebrates mass facing the people and it is considered important that he has direct contact with them visually. Front walls in modern churches are often just white washed or feature some abstract mosaic or painting.

The Baldicino
In cathedrals and basilicas, where altars were centered and not against the wall, instead of a reredos you would see a baldicino. The baldicino was an immense covering which sat on four pillars over the altar. It was often done in the most resplendent decoration and materials. Modern cathedrals and basilicas, such as that in LA, do not have baldicinos.

Side Altars
Besides the main altar at the front, any church bigger than one with an exceptionally small congregation had side altars, small niches along the church walls that had other altars where a priest could say mass or the faithful kneel to pray their devotions. There could be as many side altars as the church could structurally accommodate; massive cathedrals and monasteries typically had dozens. Each side altar was dedicated to a particular saint or mystery of Our Lord and had its own reredos and tabernacle, though usually these tabernacles where not functional as the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in only one tabernacle, the main one on the altar or Blessed Sacrament chapel. Side altars are now rarely constructed if at all because most parishes, because of the shortage of priests, do not have more than one or two priests that may need to say mass. Further, the new theology makes mass a social event almost requiring a congregation and so side altars, where a priest would say a private mass, are no longer used.

The Crypt
Typically, if a church had a basement, it was reserved for the repose of the dead either above the floor in stone sarcophagi or in the floor itself or in horizontal compartments sealed in the walls. Usually holy personages, rich or famous personages provided they died as faithful Catholics or clergy were buried in such places.

Overall Shape and Organization
Modern churches are notorious for their architectural ugliness. This may seem a very subjective judgment, but truly, modern church architecture has utterly departed from its sacred symbolism. Large churches, such as cathedrals, used to be constructed in the shape of a cross, so that if you were to look down at them they would actually look like a cross. The length of the church – where the main aisle ran down – was called the nave. The crossbar that intersected the nave was called the transept. The point where the nave and transept intersected was called the crossing and usually here was found the sanctuary. In larger churches, like cathedrals, there used to be a dome, such as St. Peter’s in Rome, and the outer area in the church around this dome was called the ambulatory and was ringed with side altars. For such massive churches there were needed flying buttresses, these are the huge pillars outside of a church that look as if spider legs jutting out from the body. They are needed to offset the weight so that the walls do not cave in. Churches used to always have depictions of the faith on their walls, either in running paintings or carvings, so that even the most simple soul could absorb the catechism just by looking around the building. Modern churches are remarkably bare of iconography.
Some modern churches, at least in the 1960s and 70s attempted to incorporate the Catholic Faith into their architectural designs with mixed results, although they were formidable attempts. Then things just got silly and then downright insulting. Most modern churches are barren, resembling assembly halls more than anything else and stripped of the decor and symbolism that churches were typically replete with in centuries past. In a huge twist of irony, modern church design is so eccentric and strange that it can be identified by it; often people look at a building and conclude it is a church because it could not possibly be anything else due to its unique malformation. There are two reasons for this architectural dissolution. One is that the modern Church is not concerned with appearances, since the emphasis is on the people, not on the exteriors hence distraction and any form of barrier or separation is avoided. Secondly, modern churches are designed with an eye on being current, trying to reach the world by adapting to modern fringe design and the tastes of the times.

The Making of a Seventeenth-Century Spanish Polychrome Sculpture http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2010/sacred/conservation/slideshow/index.shtm#

Francisco Antonio Gijón (1653–c. 1721) and unknown painter (possibly Domingo Mejías)
Saint John of the Cross c. 1675 painted and gilded wood

The polychromed wooden sculpture, which depicts the 16th-century saint known as John of the Cross, has recently undergone technical examination and conservation treatment by the object conservation department at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

To mark his beatification in 1675, when John was proclaimed worthy of public veneration in preparation for sainthood, the Carmelite convent in Seville commissioned this sculpture of him undergoing a mystical experience.

Originally, a dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, was attached to his right shoulder, while in his right hand he would have held a quill, poised to record his vision in the book he holds in his left hand. The miniature rocky mountain on top of the book alludes to the title of the saint’s celebrated spiritual treatise, Ascent of Mount Carmel.

Francisco Antonio Gijón was a sculptor from Seville renowned for his ability to carve dramatic works with intense expression. He was only 21 when he was awarded the commission.

Composite x-radiograph of Saint John of the Cross

During the technical examination, x-radiography revealed that the main body of the figure was carved from a single column of wood hollowed at the back from mid-chest down to the base in order to reduce its weight and minimize cracking along the grain. The radiographic evidence—in addition to subsequent identification of the wood as cypress—corresponds to details of a document in which the artist, Gijón, was commissioned to produce a sculpture of Saint John of the Cross, and specifies that a cypress log would be provided for his use.

Saint John of the Cross was a Spanish monk and priest born near Ávila in 1542, who during his lifetime founded an order of reformed Discalced Carmelites. (“Discalced” means barefoot or wearing sandals.) He was also a mystic and poet. Having worked briefly in his youth in a sculptor’s workshop, John wrote of the necessity of sculpture to inspire reverence for the saints.

Schematic drawing of the assembly of Saint John of the Cross
drawing by Julia Sybalsky

Examination of the sculpture’s surface and the x-radiograph revealed that the head, arms, hand, left leg, and both feet, as well as the cape, hood, and lower scapular portion of the monastic habit were all separately carved and attached to the trunk using animal glue and nails. The neck was carved with an extension shaped to fit into a hollow in the top of the trunk. Extra sections of wood were attached to the main column to accommodate the figure’s expansive stance.

Detail showing the separately carved left hand with book

Each hand of Saint John of the Cross was made separately with a carved tenon (insertion piece) projecting from the center of the truncated wrist so that it could be fitted into the corresponding mortise (opening) at the end of the forearm.

Sequential schematic drawings of the surface preparations evident on Saint John of the Cross
drawing prepared by the object conservation department, National Gallery of Art

The schematic drawing illustrates the process of transforming the bare wood surface to its gilded and decorated final appearance. A team of specialists was involved in making the original sculpture. Traditionally, the sculptor carved the work and applied a white ground. Flesh tones of the head, hands, and feet were then applied by a painter. It was common for yet another artisan to embellish the drapery with estofado (gilded, painted, and scribed decoration).

Application of glue and linen to wood

Here, conservators in the laboratory demonstrate the application of glue and linen to cypress wood panels. The preparation of wood surfaces for estofado, a special technique used to decorate the drapery, was more time consuming than that for the encarnciones (flesh tones). Following an overall application of gíscola (animal glue and garlic essence), the surfaces to be gilded were covered with linen. This covering reinforced the separate wooden elements, isolated wood knots, and provided a rough surface to hold the subsequent layers of gesso. The strength provided by the fabric precluded the need for numerous expensive metal nails, which had the disadvantage of corroding and eventually causing the wood to crack during seasonal weather cycles.

Application of gesso over linen

We all require a little divine direction or inspiration from time to time, so when someone like liturgical & iconographic artist David Clayton goes to such great lengths to encourage others in his profession, to think more deeply about the consequences of their commissions for Church art & literally spells out where it’s all been going wrong & indeed, most importantly, how to correct these failings for future generations, then people like me should sit up & take note.

The full series can be seen here http://thewayofbeauty.org/multimedia/

David Clayton, examines Catholic traditions in art as an expression of a Catholic worldview. The series focuses on authentic Catholic artistic traditions (iconographic, gothic, baroque and sacred geometry), and examines what constitutes a tradition as well as how it is taught and passed on so that it can respond to the times, while retaining its essential principles. The series shows how the style of these traditions can be related directly to the liturgy, theology and philosophy of the Church.

Throughout this superb 13 part series, he creates a wonderful new painted wooden cross for the college chapel that mixes both eastern & western traditions.

More about this piece here http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/blog/2010/03/02/thomas-more-college-unveils-new-medieval-style-crucifix-in-chapel/

I googled the name of the “conscientious objector” from the above article (better not mention him by name in case he tries to sue) & it appears fairly obvious to all that while he is an architect, he’s also some sort of serial objector!

Thank God for the Irish social network
Date:
23 Feb 2012

Fr Gerry Kane reports on how niftydetective work helped a church refurbishment

Some work was done in Harold’s Cross Church in Dublin nearly eight years ago, in October 2004. An alcove was converted into a beautiful recess for prayer. Some old doors were taken down and left outside to be carted away.

Recently, we decided to set up a reconciliation room, to encourage reception of the sacrament. Our architect advised that the original doors would have been the best solution, in keeping with the design of the church.

We looked at a similar set of doors, to a store room off the church, and wondered about moving them.

We could replace those doors with something modern. New doors wouldn’t be as obvious there as they would be in the body of the church.

Before a final decision, we tried to find the original doors. Checking through our records, we saw that a company called Peter Johnson Interiors were involved in the renovation in 2004.

Beth Fitzpatrick, who had organised the work, confirmed they were the people to contact. They were extremely helpful, and remembered the job.

After a few phone calls, they suggested that the doors might have been taken away by the man who put in new flooring. He was from down the country somewhere. Either that or they could be in some salvage yard nearby.

I tried one of the salvage yards, off the South Circular Road. Again the man in charge was very helpful, and had all the time in the world to help in this wild goose chase, once he heard the story.

(Pictured: Alan Moore – left – and Brendan Conlon with one of the rescued doors)

He brought me through his bewildering array of store rooms and warehouses, looking at all the many doors he had in stock. No sign of our doors though.

When he heard it was a set of double doors, intact, he suggested that they were probably in some pub by now, and maybe a pub crawl would be in order!

Again checking our records, the man down the country turned out to be Brendan Conlon, a craftsman from Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath.

However, his invoice was now way out of date, and the phone number redundant. A Google search revealed many websites offering silly information on various Brendan Conlons throughout the world, most of them in the USA.

But no phone number or details for the man we wanted.

Last chance — I tried the old-fashioned Irish Google: the family and friends network. I rang a cousin of mine, Phil Flynn, also living in Kinnegad.

No, she didn’t know him. But her sister Edel might — she was in the business. Within a few minutes, I had Brendan’s mobile phone number.

A nicer man you couldn’t talk to. Yes, he remembered the job. He had seen the doors outside waiting to be taken away when he was finished, so he had offered to do it.

They were probably still stored in his brother’s shed where he left them. He would check, just to be sure.

He rang the following morning. Yes the doors were there intact, after eight years.

Time and again, he had been offered money; for the brass handles, one door, the glass, the wood, whatever.

But for some reason, he said no. They were still in the same condition in which they had arrived.

As another brother, Fr John Conlon in Duleek in Meath said, they were just meant to be returned to where they belonged. So, Brendan offered to bring the doors back to us in a day or two.

Thanks be to God Ireland is such a small country. Thanks be to God for old-fashioned Irish Google.

And thanks be to God for gentlemen craftsmen, for whom life is more than the quick buck and the fast sell.