favourite church in ireland

….have’nt been to mass in years

St Patricks Cathedral.

Sorry. Scrap that. It has to be St Annes church on Dawson street.

How about St Augustine and St John’s in Thomas Street……or the one up in Westland Row; great interior, …..or the Carmelite Church that supposedly holds St Valentines remains. St Paul’s on Arran Quay too: great mural…..etc, etc…There are so many great churches in Dublin.
There are some great chuches in the suburbs too built around the 30s, 40s and 50s….but pity about the frugal minimalist modern shite that was built in suburban areas from the 70’s onwards….aka concrete featureless godless blocks. No wonder the massses lost faith.

….probably the finest and most enthusiastically accepted modern church in Ireland ….St.Aengus

St Audeon’s on High St? (The medieval one, not the recent Catholic one). Absolutely amazing interiors, with many genuine medieval elements (for example, a tomb depicting dancing skeletons!).

P.

This one Paul?
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/high_street/staudoen.html

Carmelite Church that supposedly holds St Valentines remains on Aungier Street
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/aungier_street/whitefriars.html

Yup, that one. The “exterior part” (at one point the church was four times as large as it is now, and those exterior walls are still there – in fact, there’s a etching from the 18th century which depicts them as already being ruins then, with local women hanging washing from them) has been renovated over many years; I believe the church has only been open to the public for the past year or two. Well worth a visit. (More on it in “Life in Old Dublin” – http://indigo.ie/~kfinlay/Old%20Dublin/chapter13.htm)

For kitsch value, you could try the Carmelite Church on Aungior St.

P.

St Augustine & St John I say is the greatest also, amazing.

Which is more than can be said for the Pro Cathedral, I’m sorry but borrrring.
(Although the recent exterior cleaning is superb)

the black church on mountjoy street is pretty nice looking. foreboding and well proportioned

I’ve always been fond of the Honan Chapel in UCC and had the privilege of doing some work on it a few years ago.

Another favourite is Scott’s pavilion church, but I can’t for the life of me remember where it is. I’m thinking Kerry, but couldn’t swear to it.

The Church of Christ the King at Turners Cross also deserves a mention. It’s a pretty impressive edifice, especially considering the era in which it was concieved.

de Blacam and Meaghers courtyard church (memory seriously failing again – Firhouse? Or was that a different one?) and chapel of reconciliation at Knock are both worth looking at.

For some reason Burt never did it for me, but I can accept it as a pretty singular piece of work.

Holy Trinity Church on Fr Mattew Qy in Cork – such a stunner by day and night (pictures of it are on some other thread but I can’t remember…).

Hello, helloinsane. The ‘Scott pavilion’ was actually designed by Ronnie Tallon, in Knockanure, Moyvane, Co Kerry. Bad news about de Blacam & Meagher’s Firhouse, I’m afraid – it was wrecked a few years ago, when the locals painted some of the concrete and put a cheapo pitched metal roof over the whole lot to make it look more like a church. The interior of their confessional chapel at Knock has also been messed with.

Shows how Dublin-centric this site is!! DOn’t ye realise we have churches down here in the sticks too? St John’s in Kilkenny is just one of several superb churches and cathedrals the city can boast

Very true.

St Patricks in Dundalk is a wonderful Gothic revival, late Georgian cathedral, modelled on Kings College in Cambridge, and its magnificent bell-tower acts as a wonderful beacon for the town from a distance.

Church in Cong by Noel Dowley is pretty good.
Waterford Catherdral too.

I’ve been thinking about this one…. I have a few with caveats….

St Finbarrs in Cork for its opulence…
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/cork/cork/st_finn_barres.html

Holy Cross Abbey for its simplicity

St Peters, Laragh cos its unusual
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/monaghan/laragh/church.html

St Macartans in Monaghan which I loved as a kid and now drives me close to fury when I pass it as the interior has been butchered….
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/monaghan/monaghan/stmacartans.html

Never liked Burt, preferred Cresslough or Sion Mills

Was in Limerick at the weekend, St Mary’s is a fine Cathedral too – probably the nicest of the old Church of Ireland cathedrals I’ve visited.
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/limerick/limerick/st_marys_cathedral.html

There are some great churches around the country, St. Finbar’s and the above links are brilliant examples of such edifices.
Such devotion from Irish folk who had nothing then yet gave what they could toward the building of such great churches. Great work from the architects too, even if they may have been formulaic. What great landmarks they left us today.
Pity about the frugal shit that was built in suburban housing estates from the early 70’s onwards….ie concrete windowless blocks…truely godless and inhuman places.

I think the opulence of st finbarrs had little to do with the devotion of those who had little, as a COI Cathedral from a certain era…

Creeslough is a nice choice….bit overlooked

also in Donegal

Glenties … quite simple but impressive nonetheless, for a tight budget

Church of the All Saints , built in 1999 inspired by the design of St.Peter’s Boat

Burt has to be seen in the flesh to be appreciated

The epitome of the breeze-block brigade, that concrete box in Firhouse is now much loved by its parishners, not least because its so different from everywhere else.

Surprisingly, on one has jet mentioned St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork, nor Sts. Peter and Paull’s in Cork City – if we can mention that place!

Possibly because it is a Cathedral

My favourite church has to be St Bartholomews in Dublin it is good Victorian Neo-Gothic Church that occupies a very tricky site well. It has been very well maintained throughout the years and its clock is another asset. For a Prodestant Church it is about as high church as you will see in this Country.

The Honal Chapel U.C.C. Cork – Beautiful interiors and stained glass & floor mosaic.
Stunning.

In Dublin, St.Audeon’s RC for the best interior. Also the church of the good sheperd in churchtown-but I’m sure no-one knows about that.

Outside Dublin I love the Capuchin Friary church in Kilkenny CITY, and the COI cathedral in Waterford, the most overlooked building in Ireland.

@Spinal Tap wrote:

The Honal Chapel U.C.C. Cork – Beautiful interiors and stained glass & floor mosaic.
Stunning.

Agreed, and it has just celebrated the 90 anniversary of its consecration and remarkably is still, for the most part, intact. The sanctuary lamp has recently been re-instated and we await the re-instatement of the Grille for the West door and the altar rail.

For me Killarney Cathedral and St Saviour’s in Dublin – despite all that has been inflicted on these two, they are still impressive.

I love the Monkstown COI. It’s very well lit at night too.

G. C. Ashlin’s Loreto Convent Chapel in Fermoy, Co. Cork

One of my favourites, the CoI in Monkstown. It’s even nicer than this picture gives it credit for.
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/monkstown/monkstown_church_lge.html
Reminds me quite a bit of the Black Church, another magnificent building.
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/mountjoy_street/black_church.html

Spectacular from land and sea, for me it has to be St. Colman’s , Cobh