Traditional Easter Triduum

The Easter Ceremonies in the Gregorian Rite:

Holy Thursday

4 p.m. - Holy Mass: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
6 p.m. - Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
6 p.m. - Holy Mass: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
7 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath

Good Friday

12 noon - Stations of the Cross: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
3 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
3 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
5 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
6 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
7 p.m. - Stations of the Cross: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath

Holy Saturday

12.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
8 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
8.30 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.

Easter Sunday

9 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Mary's Church, Ballyhea, Co. Cork
9 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Mary's Church, Chapel Street, Newry, Co. Down
10 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Patrick's Church, Drumkeen, Co. Donegal
10 a.m. - Holy Mass: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
12 noon - Holy Mass: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
1.30 p.m. - Holy Mass: Holy Cross Church (O.P.), Tralee, Co. Kerry
2 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Columba's Church, Longtower, Derry City
4 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Therese's Church, Somerton Road, Belfast City
5 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Patrick's Church, College Road, Kilkenny City
5.30 p.m. - Holy Mass: Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Our Lady's Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo

Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh go léir!
A happy and holy Easter to one and all!

Latin Mass in Ballyhea for Easter Monday

Ballyhea lies just south of Charleville, Co. Cork, in the lea of the Ballyhoura Mountains and along the waters of the Awbeg River, the tributary of the Blackwater once immortalised by Edmund Spenser as "gentle Mullagh".  On Easter Monday morning, some members and friends made their way to the Parish Church of St. Mary for the offering of the almost monthly Traditional Latin Mass there.

Archbishop Sheen Narrates...

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen narrates the Traditional Latin Mass:

The Mass in this clip was filmed on Easter Sunday, 1941, at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Church of the Servite Order in Chicago. The celebrant was Revd. Fr. J. R. Keane, O.S.M. Deacon and Subdeacon were Revv. Hugh Calkins, O.S.M., and Frank Calkins, O.S.M., respectively. The musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, 'The Mass of Christ the King,' was composed by Rev. Edwin V. Hoover. The Schola Cantorum of the Mundelin Seminary, Chicago, under the direction of Revd. Fr. Joseph T. Kush, C.G.M., sang the proper of the Mass.

In the course of his narration, Archbishop Sheen said: “It is a long-established principle of the Church never to completely drop from her public worship any ceremony, object or prayer, which once occupied a place in that worship.” Mind you, that was in 1941. What a difference 70 years makes!

The Sequence of Easter

The Sequence in the Gregorian Rite is a rare thing. One of the more radical changes made by St. Pius V in the Missal of 1570 was the reduction in the number of Sequences to four - with the Stabat Mater Dolorosa added by the saintly Pope Benedict XIII in 1727, perhaps incongruously for the rank of the feast, for the Seven Dolours of Our Lady in Passion Week.

The other four are the Sequences of Easter, Victimae Pascali Laudes, of Pentecost, Veni Sancte Spiritus, of Corpus Christi, Lauda Sion Salvatorem, and All Souls, Dies Irae.

The Sequence is a hymn that is sung on particular feasts immediately before the Gospel. Taken with the long Tract of the First Sunday of Lent, the effect can be the heightening of expectation before the singing of the Gospel. However, the Sequence, unlike the Introit and the Gradual and Alleluia, seems to emphasise the text over the music. That is to say, there are generally fewer notes per syllable, making the Sequences resemble speech more closely. That would seem to indicate that the Church intended the text of the Sequence to be far more like a Lesson (a reading) than a Chant. It seems to me, therefore, that the faithful should give great attention to the Sequences, both as hymnody and as texts upon which to meditate.

In the first clip, the ladies from gloria.tv sing the usual chant version of Victimae Pascali Laudes. It is rhythmic and syllabic. It is also strophed, which is a common feature of the Sequences. That is to say, the melody of each line is repeated in the next. Compare this with the other four 'original' sequences.

The second clip has an irresistable energy to it that may not be quite correct as plain chant but, as liturgical music, does not depart very far from Gregorian Chant itself, while being a distinctive form. It certainly captures the victorious and triumphant theme of Easter.

A Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Armagh

The Irish are very devoted to pilgrimage.  In the Golden Age of Faith the Saints of Ireland undertook Peregrinatio Pro Christo to Heaven-knew-where to bring them the Catholic Faith.  It is a startlingly rare thing to make a pilgrimage to Armagh, the seat of Saint Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, and his successor the Primate of All Ireland, and, in a sense, the spiritual heart and ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.

The present Cathedral, the National Cathedral, as Cardinal Logue called it, was built between 1840 and 1904, the medieval Cathedral having been confiscated during the 16th century.  Historic images of the Cathedral can be seen here.

Holy Week Ceremonies in the Gregorian Rite in Ireland (2015)

 

Palm Sunday

29th March, 2015

Diocese of Dromore, St. Mary's Chapel, Chapel Street, Newry, Co. Down.
9 a.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Meath, Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath.
10 a.m. - Blessing of Palms, Procession, and Holy Mass
4 p.m. - Vespers and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Archdiocese of Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy, St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
10.15 a.m. - Blessing of Palms
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass

Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City.
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Cork and Ross, St. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City.
12 noon - Holy Mass

Diocese of Raphoe, Ss. Joseph and Conal's Church, Bruckless, Co. Donegal.
12.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Meath, Church of the Nativity, Johnstown, Navan, Co. Meath.
1 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Kerry, Holy Cross Church, O.P., Tralee, Co. Kerry.
1.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Galway, Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, St. Mary's Church, O.P., The Claddagh, Galway City.
2.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Ossory, Society of Saint Oliver Plunkett, St. Patrick's Church, Kilkenny City.
5 p.m. - Holy Mass

Spy Wednesday 

1st April, 2015

Archdiocese of Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy, St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7 p.m. - Tenebrae

Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City.
7 p.m. - Holy Mass
8 p.m. - Tenebræ

Holy Thursday

2nd April, 2015

Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City.
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. - Confessions.
7 p.m. - Holy Mass with washing of the feet. (Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from the evening Mass to Midnight)
8 p.m. - Tenebræ.

Diocese of Meath, Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath.
6 p.m. - Mass in Coena Domini

Archdiocese of Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy, St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
8 p.m. - Holy Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday

3rd April, 2015

Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City.
3 p.m. - Mass of the Presanctified.
7 p.m. - Stations of the Cross.
8 p.m. - Tenebræ

Diocese of Meath, Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath.
3 p.m. - Synaxis of the Passion of the Lord, with Adoration of the Holy Cross

Archdiocese of Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy, St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
5 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion
7 p.m. - Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday

4th April, 2015

Diocese of Meath, Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath.
11 a.m. - Blessing of Easter Baskets
8 p.m. - Solemn Paschal Vigil, with 1st Mass of the Resurrection

Archdiocese of Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy, St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil

Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City.
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday

5th April, 2015

Diocese of Dromore, St. Mary's Chapel, Chapel Street, Newry, Co. Down.
9 a.m. - Holy Mass

Archdiocese of Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy, St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass

Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City.
10 a.m. - Confessions.
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass followed by blessing of the Easter lamb.

Diocese of Meath, Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath.
10.45 a.m. - Tierce and Holy Mass

6 p.m. - Vespers and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Diocese of Cork and Ross, St. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City.
12 noon - Holy Mass

Diocese of Meath, Church of the Nativity, Johnstown, Navan, Co. Meath.
1 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Kerry, Holy Cross Church, O.P., Tralee, Co. Kerry.
1.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Galway, Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, St. Mary's Church, O.P., The Claddagh, Galway City.
2.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Ossory, Society of Saint Oliver Plunkett, St. Patrick's Church, Kilkenny City.
5 p.m. - Holy Mass

Diocese of Killaloe, Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, St. Joseph's Church, Ennis, Co. Clare.
5.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

Archdiocese of Tuam, The Old Church, Our Lady's Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo.
5.30 p.m. - Holy Mass

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Latin Mass in Stradbally

Urbi et Orbi Easter 2012

Christus Pro Nobis Mortuus Est (Rom. v, 9)

Urbi et Orbi Easter 2011

Conclusion, conclusion, conclusion

You know when I was doing my exams they told me that for the English essays, come hell or high water, the conclusion had to be proper. That was the one essential component to getting a good grade. So the Pope has released a new prayer for the Jews - sadly only for the Extraordinary Form. I reserve all opinions to myself about it except this one. Which imbecile underling didn't check the rubrics?

All the Good Friday prayers end with what is known as the "long conclusion" - Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat, in unitate Spiritu Sancte, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum - Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, unto all ages, world without end. Some "Per eundem Dominum..." - I hope you'll remember that post about the bishop who wrote to Rome over eundem (or in his case eumdem)

Back in the 'good old days' of reform (*cough) , the revisers decided to eliminate this long conclusion which has been attached to all the Collects, Secrets and Postcommunions due to Gallican influence and return to the simple Roman ending "Per Christum Dominum nostrum" - Through Christ our Lord - for the retitled Super oblata, the Postcommunion and many of the prayers, blessings and certain collects (like Good Friday) And looking at the new prayers for the Jews, what do my eyes behold but "Per Christum Dominum nostrum" instead of the long ending.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Hope they correct this one! Unless maybe the Holy Father is hinting that he is going to change the OF prayer. Hmmmmmm.........

Casting my mind back I was just thinking about the changes to this oration on Good Friday. Incremental is the word I'm looking for. In 1948, it was allowed to translate "perfidi" with a little more leeway. This lead to a good many hand missals switching from "perfidious" to "unbelieving" or similar. This was re-enforced when Pius XII quite firmly explained its meaning later. Then in 1956, the words "Oremus. Flectamus Genua. Levate" was added in the new order of Holy Week and everyone knelt before the prayer for the Jews. In 1959, in a letter to the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, later communicated to the world's bishops, John XXIII excised "perfidi" from the prayer. In 1965, the prayer was retitled, the introduction was changed and the prayer itself was the one that would later be used in the 1970 Missal. As follows:

Pro Iudaeis Oremus et pro Iudaeis: ut Deus et Dominus noster faciem suam super eos illuminare dignetur; ut et ipsi agnoscant omnium Redemptorem, Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Oremus. Flectamus genua. Levate.Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui promissiones tuas Abrahae et semini eius contulisti: Ecclesiae tuae preces clementer exaudi; ut populus acquisitionis antiquae ad Redemptionis mereatur plenitudinem pervenire.

And then in 1970 the introduction was once again changed and the kneeling exhortations made according to local custom.

Oremus et pro Iudaeis, ut, ad quos prius locutus est Dominus Deus noster, eis tribuat in sui nominis amore et in sui foederis fidelitate proficere. Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui promissiones, etc.

First published in February, 2008

Trettondag Jul - Epiphany in Sweden

The Epiphany, the feast of the Three Holy Kings, known in Swedish as Trettondedag Jul (Thirteenth day of Christmas, just as the day after Christmas Day is Annandag Jul, Second day of Christmas) is the most controversial of our Christian Public holidays. The "Almega" employers union disapproves of the religious theme of the holiday - nothing to do with having to give employees a day off of course!

Public holidays in Sweden are called Röda Dagar (Red Days, just like "red letter days") because the important Church feasts were marked in red in Church calendars. There are 13 Red Days. They are Nyårsdagen (New Year's Day), Trettondedag Jul (Epiphany), Langfredagen (Good Friday), Påskdagen (Easter Monday) Forsta Maj (1st May), Kristi Himmelsfardsdag (Ascension Day), Pingst (Pentecost Sunday) - Annandag Pingst (Pentecost Monday) was a Red Day but was replaced by - Sveriges Nationaldag (Swedish National Day, 6th June), Midsommardagen (Midsummer Day on the Saturday between 20th and 26th June), Alla Helgons Dag (All Saints/Souls Day on the Saturday between 31st October and 6th November), Juldagen (Christmas Day) and Annandag Jul (26th December).

Everyone in Sweden also celebrates a few other days like Julafton (Christmas Eve), Midsommarafton (Midsummer Eve) and Nyårsafton (New Years Eve) as full holidays and Trettondagsafton (Epiphany Eve), Skärtorsdagen (Easter Thursday), Påskafton (Easter Saturday), Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Eve), Kristi Himmelsfärdsdag (Ascension Eve), and Allhelgonaafton (All Saints/Souls Eve) as half holidays. Also, if the Red Day falls on a Tuesday or Thursday we take the Klämdag (squeeze day between the Red Day and the weekend) as a holiday too!

Only 1st May, the Swedish National Day and Midsummer are not Christian Days, unless you include the feast day of St. Joseph the Workman and the election of King Gustavs I Vasa, who founded the Reformation in Sweden, and the feast day of St. John the Baptist as Christian Days!

Back to the Epiphany or Thirteenth Day of Christmas. It was celebrated in Sweden during the Middle Ages with Mystery Plays. It used to be the day that stjärngossar (Star Boys) dressed in white with cone hats with stars on would put on pageants of the journey of the Three Kings to Bethlehem and they would make a procession from house to house. Balthazar carried a star lantern on a pole and Caspar and Melchior would carry swords. The other children dressed as biblical characters. All would go singing songs and hymns and collecting gifts. The most famous of these biblical characters was always Judas in a big beard. The one dressed as Judas would jingle a bag with the 30 pieces of silver he received for betraying Jesus.

In Sweden today children dress as stjärngossar on Luciadag (St. Lucy's Day) instead but in a few places in Norway they can still be seen on Epiphany.

Christ Heaven Flight-Day

Ascension Thursday is known in Sweden as Kristi Himmelsfärdsdag, which translates to Christ Heaven Flight-Day. Here, just like everywhere else, it is celebrated to commemorate Jesus' ascension into Heaven, body and soul, forty days after his resurrection. Unlike everywhere else, though, we haven't moved the celebrations to the weekend.

Celebrated 39 days after Easter, always on a Thursdsay, Kristi Himmelsfärdsdag is always celebrated between April 30th and June 3rd, which means it sometimes falls on a couple of secular feasts celebrated in Sweden during this time; Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis eve, April 30th) and May 1st (International Labour Day or, indeed, the Feast Day of St. Joseph the Worker).

It is celebrated as a national holiday even if it has lost many of the traditions attached to it. It used to be the day when cows were allowed out to grass for the first time of the year and since 1924 it is an important day for the sobriety movement. It is also the first day for fishing - första metaredagen - it used to be widely believed that fish wouldn't bite before this day.

During the middle ages there would be himmelsfärdsspel - plays illustrating the events, this tradition is not very commonly practiced these days, but you can still see it in some rural parts of the country. (If Medieval mystery plays are what you're looking for Visby is the place you wanna be, where they have a Medieval week every year in August.)

The Swedish celebration of this day carries on the rebirth message of Easter and many activities, even Masses, take place outdoors to fully utilise the sunlight that's returned after months of darkness and gloom.

Urbi et Orbi Easter 2010

Archbishop Sheen Narrates...

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen narrates the Traditional Latin Mass:

The Mass in this clip was filmed on Easter Sunday, 1941, at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Church of the Servite Order in Chicago. The celebrant was Revd. Fr. J. R. Keane, O.S.M. Deacon and Subdeacon were Revv. Hugh Calkins, O.S.M., and Frank Calkins, O.S.M., respectively. The musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, 'The Mass of Christ the King,' was composed by Rev. Edwin V. Hoover. The Schola Cantorum of the Mundelin Seminary, Chicago, under the direction of Revd. Fr. Joseph T. Kush, C.G.M., sang the proper of the Mass.

In the course of his narration, Archbishop Sheen said: “It is a long-established principle of the Church never to completely drop from her public worship any ceremony, object or prayer, which once occupied a place in that worship.” Mind you, that was in 1941. What a difference 70 years makes!

Holy Thursday in Cork

The Easter Ceremonies were celebrated in the Gregorian Rite in Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Cork City. Some images from Mass on Holy Thursday follow:

Introibo ad Altare Dei

Ab illo benedicaris, in cuius honore cremaberis

Nos autem gloriari opportet in cruce

Gloria in excelsis Deo

Dominus Vobiscum

Dominus sit in corde tuo et in labiis tuis

Exemplum enim dedi vobis

Et quemadmodum ego feci vobis ita et vos faciatis

Msgr. James O'Brien

Suscipe Sancte Pater Omnipotens

Per intercessionem beati Michaelis Archangeli

Per omnia saecula saeculorum...

...et elevatis oculis in caelum...

Haec quotiescumque feceritis in mei memoriam facietis

Reflecti vitalibus alimentis...

...plenum gratiae et veritatis...

Veneremur cernui!

Diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea

[Feel free to use these images but please credit this blog and give proper reference to the location and occasion - Convenor]

For many years, an elderly retired missionary Priest celebrated the Gregorian Rite daily at a very early hour in the Church of his congregation, the SMA, in Wilton, on the outskirts of Cork City. I well remember attending Mass in a darkened Church at 6.30 a.m. In the company of perhaps a dozen others who had been cute enough to discover the Mass in spite of the absolute ban on publicity. This elderly Priest, now deceased and for whom your prayers are requested, persevered despite increasing blindness to celebrate the Votive Mass of Our Lady, in season and out, as long as health permitted.

More recently, occasional Masses were organised in Ss. Peter and Paul's, growing to a monthly Mass since July, 2008, following Summorum Pontificum.

Fr. Patrick McCarthy, the Parish Priest of Saints Peter and Paul's, has been celebrating Mass in the Gregorian Rite weekly since October, 2009, with the permission of the Bishop of Cork and Ross. During this past Lent, Mass was celebrated daily in the Gregorian Rite.

During Holy Week, Tenebrae was celebrated each day of the Triduum and the full Easter Ceremonies were celebrated in the Church.

Ss. Peter and Paul's was also the scene of a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by H.E. George Cardinal Pell on 12th July, 2009. It coincided with the 150th anniversary of the commencement of building of the Church and was organised by St. Colman's Society for Catholic Liturgy to coincide with their annual conference held in Fota. It was the first public Pontifical High Mass (or even Gregorian Rite Mass) celebrated publicly in Ireland by a Cardinal since the introduction of the Novus Ordo.

St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy will hold its annual Solemn High Mass for the Holy Father’s intentions, on Easter Tuesday, 6th April, 2010, at Ss. Peter and Paul’s.

The foundation stone of the church was laid on 15th August, 1859, and the church was dedicated for worship on 29th June, 1866. It replaced an older church, built in 1786, which was entered from Carey's Lane and known as Carey's Lane Chapel. At that time Catholics were prohibited from building churches on main streets. This explains why the building is on such a narrow street when it is clearly worthy of a grander setting.

The prime mover in the building of SS Peter and Paul's was Archdeacon John Murphy. He was a member of the wealthy family of brewers (producers of Cork's famous Murphy's Stout) and had a most unusual early career for a future priest as he had worked for a time as a fur trader with the Hudson Bay Company in Canada.

The Church is Parish Church of most of the central part of Cork, the island between the two channels of the River Lee.

Missing, as is often the case with Irish Churches, is the spire planned for it, which was never built due to lack of funds and for fear that the extra weight might cause the structure to subside.

The irregular plan comprises five-bay side elevations with side aisles, apse to the east, and having gabled entrance front to the west, flanked by a four-stage tower to the north, and a pinnacle to the south. The pitched and hipped slate roofs are completed by cast-iron finials. The walls are of ashlar sandstone with ashlar limestone plinths, string courses, quoins, and dressings to openings. pointed arch window openings with stained glass windows set in carved limestone tracery. The timber match-board doors have wrought-iron strap hinges, set in pointed arch opening and having carved tympanum. Cast-iron railings set on limestone plinths and cast-iron gate to site.

There is some question over whether the Church was designed by E.W. Pugin, son of Augustus, or by Pugin's Irish partner, George Ashlin, but, at any rate, this church is particularly significant, as it is the earliest collaboration of the two, and in many ways acted as a template for subsequent church building in Ireland.

Located on a cramped site, this site is excellently utilised. The characteristic Cork materials, of ashlar sandstone with limestone dressings, add colour and textural variation to the site. The buildings in enhanced by the retention of many artistic features, such as the stained glass by Barnetts of Leith and Earley, the high altar which was designed by Ashlin and executed by Samuel Daly, as well as the carved confessionals and pulpit. The high altar was consecrated in August, 1874. In 1875 a new pulpit, again designed by Ashlin, and sanctuary stalls were added. The pulpit is of Russian oak with figures carved in high relief. High quality workmanship is evident throughout the construction and execution.