22 September 2017

A short visit to a church
with Pugin’s fingerprints

The chancel arch and rood screen in Holy Trinity Abbey Church, Adare, are probably the work of AWN Pugin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

One of my favourite churches in Ireland, undoubtedly, is the Holy Trinity Abbey Church, now the Roman Catholic parish church in the centre of Adare, Co Limerick. Six of us were waiting in Adare on Wednesday morning [20 September 2017] to begin a tour of the Dingle Peninsula, and as a group we found time for an early morning visit to this church.

Although, there were about 20 Trinitarian foundations in England and Scotland, Holy Trinity Abbey in Adare is the only example of a church of the Trinitarian order in Ireland. The Trinitarian Order was founded in 1198, when Pope Innocent III was in office. The order was founded by Saint John de Matha and Saint Felix de Valois, a grandson of the King of France. The order engaged in ransoming and freeing Christian captives during the Crusades.

Saint James was the patron saint of the abbey. The foundation date of Trinitarian order at Adare is unknown. But there was a church here by 1226, when Geoffrey de Marisco received a grant to hold a fair at Adare during the eight days following the feast of Saint James.

Geoffrey de Marisco ended his days in exile in France, and John FitzThomas Fitzgerald, 1st Earl of Kildare, endowed the abbey in the late 13th century.

At the Reformation, the abbey was dissolved in 1539. Thady Quin (1645-1725), a lawyer and a descendant from the O’Quins of Inchquin, Co Clare, was granted the abbey in 1683 by the Earl of Kildare.

According to a local tradition, there were plans to turn the ruined monastery as a market house. But one day in 1811, as the first Earl of Dunraven was passing by, he stopped for a few minutes gazing at the ruins. As he moved away he was heard to remark, ‘I never will allow it to be a den of thieves.’ He proceeded to restore the ruins as a parish church.

His son, Wyndham Quin (1782-1850), 2nd Earl of Dunraven, gave the ruined abbey to the Roman Catholic parish of Adare in 1824 and began a programme of restoration that was continued by his family.

The abbey was renovated and enlarged in 1852 by Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin (1812-1871), 3rd Earl of Dunraven, who engaged English architect Philip Charles Hardwick (1820-1890) for the task, while taking care to maintain the fabric of the church.

However, this work may have been carried out by AWN Pugin when he took over from Hardwick in restoration of Adare Abbey. Phoebe Stanton, who is an authority on AWN Pugin, says he ‘added a new roof and stained-glass windows to the village church, which he probably also totally restored.’ Roderick O'Donnell says this work was for former Trinitarian Abbey. In addition, the encaustic tiles in the sanctuary are further evidence of any work by Pugin on this church.

Encaustic tiles in the sanctuary of the restored church in Adare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

The abbey was radically extended in 1856 in a building programme that lasted until 1884.

The 3rd Earl of Dunraven was an antiquarian and historian, who had become a Roman Catholic. He had the nave lengthened by 12 ft, the porch erected, and the Lady Chapel built, at the east end. One of the features of this enlargement is a bronze screen designed by AWN Pugin. This separates the Lady Chapel from the Sanctuary and was the gift of Windham Thomas Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven, in 1884.

The church we see today is a fusion of the mediaeval remains and 19th century Gothic Revival architecture. For example, during the 19th century restoration, care was taken to preserve the two piscinas, one in the nave, the other in the chancel of the original church. There, the sacred vessels were cleaned after the Eucharist.

The mediaeval features include the tower, nave and part of the choir, while the timber roofs, the sacristy and the Lady Chapel were designed by Hardwick. There is a restored columbarium or dovecote beside the church, and nearby Our Lady’s Abbey School, originally a convent of the Sisters of Mercy, incorporates part of the original cloister.

‘The Way,’ a modern bronze designed by John Blakeley, depicts the hill in Jerusalem (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

A modern bronze sculpture in the church, ‘The Way,’ was designed by John Blakeley, and depicts the hill in Jerusalem. The centrepiece of the sculpture is a five-million-year-old piece of marble from Jerusalem.

The Stations of the Cross are the work of Meyers of Munich, commissioned in 1884 by the then Parish Priest, Father John Stanislaus Flanagan, who died in 1905 and is buried in front of the main altar.

Our visit on Wednesday morning to this church was brief, and we had little time to do anything more than say or morning prayers and delight in the beauty that enfolded us. Within an hour or two we were in Killarney, and from there we moved on to Inch Strand, Dingle, and the end of Ireland and of Europe at Ventry and Dunquin.

Holy Trinity Abbey Church in Adare, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

USPG seeks help for work in
Caribbean and Bangladesh

USPG is seeking support for its work with over 32 million people in the Caribbean (Photograph; USPG)

Patrick Comerford

Over 32 million people in the Caribbean have been exposed to high wind zones. Some islands, such as Anguilla, have reported critical damage with up to 90 per cent of infrastructure being damaged.

Hurricane Irma made landfall on the northeast Caribbean islands in the early hours of 6 September.

Irma has been classified as a Category 5 storm – the strongest and most destructive category of hurricane – and it is considered the most powerful hurricane to be ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean.

The intensity of hurricanes is linked to the surface temperature of the sea. As such, there is concern the warming of the oceans due to climate change is contributing to these high intensity storms.

Over 32 million people in the Caribbean have been exposed to high wind zones. Some islands, such as Anguilla, have reported critical damage with up to 90 per cent of infrastructure being damaged.

The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is in close contact with the Archbishop and Bishops of the Church of the Province of the West Indies (CPWI).

USPG is standing with them in solidarity at this time, offering financial support and holding them closely in our prayers during this season of hurricanes.

You can donate to USPG’s Caribbean relief fund here.

Bishop Charles of Guyana has written: ‘Many thanks for your concern, prayers and financial support’ (7 September 2017).

Archbishop John of Barbados says: ‘Thanks for this note of concern and support. Some of the islands in the Diocese of the North-East Caribbean and Aruba suffered significant damage. Do continue to pray for us. Will keep in touch’ (7 September 2017).

A USPG emergency grant is also helping the Church of Bangladesh reach out to communities after monsoon rains caused flooding in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries that has claimed more than 250 lives.

The grant, from USPG’s Rapid Response Fund, will provide some of the worst-affected communities with food, clothes, medicine and safe drinking water.

Bishop Paul Sarker, Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh, told USPG: ‘The flood has taken hundreds of lives and washed away many houses, crops and cattle.

‘The government is speaking very loudly – there is a national election next year so the political parties want to use this situation to their advantage – but they are not doing much for the victims.

‘NGOs are observing the situation and waiting for a green light from the Bangladesh government. The church is also on alert and hope to do some work in those areas that we can access most easily. Please pray for us.’

You can donate today through USPG’s Rapid Response Fund here.

An edited official report from the Church of Bangladesh reads:

‘This deluge has created a devastating situation for the people of Bangladesh. This flood may prove to be the most devastating since flooding in 1988 inundated more than 70 per cent of land, including Dhaka city.

‘Heavy rain in China, India and Nepal has resulted in rivers that pass through Bangladesh crossing the danger level. Lands that are already saturated can soak in no more water.

‘As well as claiming lives, more than five million people have lost homes and properties and, of those, only a minimal 30,000 have found a place in a flood shelter. The situation for women and children is particularly harsh.

‘As I write, the flood is located upstream in the country, but soon the flood will find its way into the middle and south of the country before draining into ocean, which means areas will remain severely flooded for around two weeks, which will create further enormous loss and damage to life, properties, water and sanitation, crops and livelihoods, with both immediate and longer-lasting effects.

‘The Church of Bangladesh is worried about the upcoming situation and is preparing to support victims with shelter and emergency support, including food, clothes, medicines and clean water.

‘It is estimated in the vicinity of our 14 churches in the middle and southern parts of Bangladesh around 200,000 people are in need of immediate help.

‘The church will work with other agencies, but will focus on the poorest of the poor, primarily women and children, and later we will try to rehabilitate families as much as we can.

‘Please join with the Church of Bangladesh to support those who are distressed.’